Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has approved a new curriculum for government schools that cuts the textbook load by 25 percent and brings modern technology into classrooms.
The decision was taken at a special education reforms meeting chaired by the chief minister. The Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Authority (PCTB), a body under the School Education Department, briefed the meeting on the new curriculum.
Participants reviewed the English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Urdu and Early Childhood Education curricula. According to the official statement, the curriculum aims to discourage rote learning and strengthen the academic foundations of students.
Every textbook will carry a QR code that students can scan to watch a video lesson on the relevant topic. The chief minister directed officials to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) curriculum for Grades 1 to 12 and to set up laboratories in schools alongside it. She also ordered that printing of textbooks be completed before March.
The meeting decided to launch mental health training for teachers in Punjab for the first time. A proposal to appoint visiting faculty psychologists in every district was also reviewed. The chief minister directed that online counselling be made available to students.
The participants agreed to introduce legislation to end corporal punishment in schools. Establishing discipline corners in classrooms as an alternative to physical punishment was also considered. The meeting further agreed to set aside one day each week across Punjab for teacher training, to be delivered by the authors of the textbooks.
The chief minister said she wants the best educational model in government schools, with special attention to primary schools to strengthen the foundations. She said resources are not lacking but wastage must be stopped, and that the focus is on raising digital literacy in schools.
She added that English learning has been completed for 35,000 teachers in 31 tehsils of 12 districts. Regarding corporal punishment, she said a single incident of beating can affect a child for life, making effective measures to end it necessary.
