CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN

by Dr. Sultan Muhammad  Khan

Keywords ;  curriculum development in Pakistan,  Problems of Curriculum Development Process, Problems related to objectives, Problems related to content,Problems related to methods,Problems related to audio-visual aids,Problems related to evolution.

 Problems of curriculum development in Pakistan and suggestions for its
improvement

Falling education standard is one
of the most favorite topics for discussion at our social gatherings. Everyone
has his own views and experiences to narrate and ultimately, to lament and then
recall the good old days when everything was at its best.

It is a known fact that our
educational standards are one the decline. We have progressed in quantitative
expansion but gone backward qualitatively, in the government policies there are
planning and recommendations for the revolutionary steps but the progress in
negligible.

We have innovative ideas but
unable to implement any positive change effectively. That is why we could not
achieve the desired goals. We have many leaders in education but most of them
are without dedication to work. We have many schools, colleges and universities
but they are working only to award certificates and degrees to the students
without changing their attitude. The students are just memorizing facts and
information from their text material without developing proper concepts to
apply in daily life. Teachers are following conventional methods such as the
lecture. Textbook recitation and notes dictation. The innovative methods are
not followed even in teacher training institutes. The textbooks are also
theoretical ignoring the activities. All these and many more are the curriculum
related problems. These problems are identified by various policies along
appropriate recommendations as given on the next page.

 Problems of Curriculum Development Process

If we look to the various phases
or elements of curriculum development process. So many problems can be
indicated i.e.

1. Problems related to objectives.


2. Problems related to content.


3. Problems related to methods.


4. Problems related to audio-visual aids.


5. Problems related to evolution.

1. problems
   Related to Objective

The curriculum development is a
continuous and dynamic process, having some goals to be achieved though classroom
activates.

The effectiveness of curriculum
process depends largely upon the extent to which these goals are achieved. If
the objectives are formulated in clear an behavioral terms, their achievement
becomes easy. The objectives formulated for the existing curricula are mostly
ambiguous and non behavioral such types of objectives can be considered as
invalid. Some of the objectives are too broad to achieve and some of them are
not related to the socio economic conditions in the country. There are certain
objectives that are not according to the psychological needs of the learners.

2. Problems
   Related to Content

It has already been mentioned
that curriculum development is a dynamic process. So it must be flexible enough
to be changed from time to time along with the changes occurring in the
society. But in our country, researches in curriculum development are very rare
which make it static.

Some of the defects of existing
subject matter are as under;

• The content is not selected on the basis of research.


• To content does not help in the achievement of
  desired goals.


• The content is not suitable to the life situation of
  the learners.


• There is a lack of horizontal and vertical
  coordination in various concepts.


• The content does not demand active participation of
  learners, instead it encourages rote memory.


• Logical sequence (when required) is missing.


• The subject matter does not help in the development
  of understanding, indicative reasoning and desired creative abilities.

3. Problems
   Related to Methods

The problems of curriculum
development related to methods of instruction are:

• Methods of instruction are not suggested by the
  curriculum planners.


• Methods of instruction which are being followed in
  the classroom do not help in the achievement of desired goals.


• Teachers take last interest in inquiry-based
  methods.


• Participatory or communicative approaches are not
  followed in the class.


• Methods are not helping the learners to develop
  various skills.


• The existing teacher training programmes do not fulfill
  the requirements of the innovative methods.


• Teachers are reluctant to follow activity-based
  methods.




3. Problems
   Related to Audio-visual Aids

• Lack of sources and resources educational institutes
  affects badly the implementation proves of curriculum development.


• Teachers are not properly trained preparation and
  used of low cost material.


• The curriculum planners have not given any guidelines
  to the teachers to use the local resources as audio-visual aids.


• Charts should be accurate but it always missing the
  third dimensional attribute and must be viewed from a fixed position


• The aids must be relevant to the concept need to be
  developed


• the audio-visual should be interesting for the
  students


• chalk board is the oldest aid of teaching but chalk
  is a source of pollution and it all depend on teacher hand writing


• power failure (electricity) problem, it sometime
  damage audio-visual aids


• Hardware problem in electronic AV aids


• Overburden
  class room, the problem of visibility of small charts to all students


•  

e. Problems Related to Evaluation

·        
Proper evaluation programme is not suggested by
the curriculum planners.

·        
The test items are not related to the objectives
of the relevant course.

·        
Most of the test items are ambiguous.

·        
Only cognitive aspect is emphasized in
evaluation.

·        
The content validity is very low existing
evaluation system.

·        
The concept of continuous evaluation in to
applied.

5.3 GENERAL
RECOMMENDATION FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

• The
  curriculum should base upon native research and not on the basis of
  opinions of experts.


• Some
  of the enthusiast working teachers should be involved in curriculum
  development.


• The
  objectives must be spelt out in specific behavioral terms.


• While
  setting the objectives, equal weightage must be given to all the domains
  such as cognitive effective and psycho-motor.


• Curriculum
  should be future oriented to cope with the needs of 21^st
  century, which is expected to be scientific and technological


• Curriculum
  should be activity based


• Curriculum
  must provide a high order of understanding inductive reasoning and application
  of knowledge in the situation


• Instead
  of product based instruction, there should be an emphasis  on processes of learning


• Curriculum
  should be according to the social, cultural and economic conditions of the
  country


• Teachers
  guides should be prepared to provide them help in instruction


• Curriculum
  planner must suggest a proper criteria for evaluation


• The
  test items must possess a high content validity


• The
  test items must help in the achievement of desired goals


• The
  test items should be objectives valid and reliable