The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Curriculum and Teacher Education (DCTE) has notified the National Curriculum of Pakistan (NCP) 2026 for grades IX to XII, replacing a curriculum that had been in place for nearly two decades.
The new curriculum, covering eight core subjects, will take effect from the academic year starting in March 2027.
DCTE Director Gohar Ali said the previous curriculum dated back to 2006 and all existing textbooks had been designed around it. He said the NCP 2026 had been aligned with emerging trends and the needs of students, while also considering the financial burden on parents.
Course content, particularly in mathematics, has been reduced and rationalized under the new framework, he added. New textbooks will be developed in line with the revised curriculum ahead of its rollout.
According to a notification issued by the DCTE, the NCP 2026 has been adopted for English, Urdu, Mathematics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and General Science for grades IX and X.
The decision follows a meeting chaired by the Secretary of the Elementary and Secondary Education Department on September 4, after which the curriculum was contextualized by Curriculum Review Committees constituted by the DCTE.
The KP Textbook Board has been directed to develop or revise textbooks for grades IX to XII in line with the new curriculum and existing rules and policies. The Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISEs) have been instructed to conduct examinations according to the NCP 2026.
All public and private educational institutions in the province must follow the new curriculum and align their textbooks accordingly, with such textbooks requiring DCTE approval before circulation.
Private publishers producing textbooks or supplementary material based on the NCP 2026 must also obtain prior approval or a no-objection certificate from the DCTE for use in institutions across KP and the merged districts.
The Directorate of Professional Development (DPD), KP, and development partners have been directed to align their training manuals and other materials with the new curriculum and textbooks.
The notification warned that institutions and firms failing to comply could face action under Section 4 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Supervision of Curricula, Textbooks and Maintenance of Standards of Education Act, 2011. The newly notified curricula are available on the DCTE’s official website.
