Single national curriculum: promise of inclusion, global citizenship education and the empirical reality

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the integration of inclusion and global citizenship education in the Single National Curriculum (SNC). SNC is the latest reform in the education sector in Pakistan, planned to apply a single and modern curriculum in order to bridge the gap between public and private educational institutions, to provide quality and equity in education, and to reduce social inequalities through education. SNC is aligned with the goals and targets of Sustainable Development Goals-4 and Agenda 2030, which prominently aims at inclusion and global citizenship education. The present study found that teaching inclusion and global citizenship education is inadequate, limited and lacks rigour in SNC. Textbooks wrongly teach inclusion as people with unique needs and women are not presented as equal and representation of religious minorities is very low. Environmental and moral global citizenship are more focused areas of global citizenship while others are neglected. SNC frequently inculcates patriotism and Muslim brotherhood in the curriculum, which is in conflict with the cosmopolitan values of global citizenship. Generally, the curriculum has frequently focused on the knowledge level instead of skill development among students. However, mainly skills can enable students to play an active role in society, which is highly commendable for both constructs.