RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO CHANGE THE CURRICULUM ACCORDING TO NEW CENTURY DEMANDS IN PAKISTAN

RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO CHANGE THE CURRICULUM ACCORDING TO NEW CENTURY DEMANDS IN PAKISTAN


Abstract.

In Pakistan all educational institutes can easily be divided into three different groups, according to educational establishment runs by various organisations. These are:

a) Educational institutes run by provincial government ministries.
b) Educational institutes run by federal government ministers.
c) Educational institutes run by private organisations.

The educational institutes run by the governments used the curriculum which was designed by the British officers at the times of pre-partition, still (even today) the same curriculum is used with minor changes.

The educational institutes run by the Federal government used curriculum from the British period the only difference in marking and grading system which is different from the old educational institutes.

The privately run educational institutes are of various types. Some used the same curriculum as that of the governmental institution, but most of these institutes now have affiliations with the foreign educational institutes, which use the same curriculum as Oxford University UK or that used in USA, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and many other foreign countries curriculum. These institutes definitely provide a curriculum which change fits the times and is more close to the requirement.

Although all the above three categories of educational institutions in Pakistan do their best, but still there is lack of certain consideration during the designing of curriculum. This has brought a big gaps in absorption of the educated persons in the recent industries. This is the reason that Pakistan’s educated youth have been frustrated in getting a jobs. Their educational degrees have not provided them enough understanding and practical experience to be hired up in the industries, using less advanced scientific machines, as most of industries are located near place where they get cheap raw materials, use less labour efficient system of work to full-fill mass-production and turnout products very cheap to meet growing population needs. This bring unemployed of educated youth at the same time vacuum in the technical profession in industries. In order to bring sustainability, research is needed to change the curriculum, according to the new century’s demands in Pakistan.

Research, survey, observations and findings.

In modern world, new scientific inventions in every field of life are coming very fast, and superseding the old theories. In this computerised world, where the life is very fast, people spent very little time on cooking food as a result a chain of fast-food shops have opened every where to full-fill timely need. But these things have a great impact on our life of new generation.

In 1987 a survey was conducted in primary a country school in developed country conducted by educationist, in which students were given a task to draw a picture of fish. It was a shocking report that 90% of students had drawn a square piece of fish, and written “fish and finger-chips” and while 10% students submitted a blank-sheet of paper as they did not understand word “fish”. The physiologist and teachers were called to resolve this problem. It was revealed that since working parents had no time to purchase a raw fish and cook in their homes, they depended upon fast food shops fish and chips. The school than decided to change the syllabus and instead to drawing a fish, they took children to aquarium to familiarise them about the shapes and colours of fish. But it is still a big question that genetic engineering has developed a population of same size, uniform colour, and shape. This still raises other question of small and big fish weighing up to 500g. By combining both fishes the net total weight is 700g. In this example the word “small” “large” “various sizes” “various weights” and their plus and minus of mathematics was taught.

What we do with genetically evolved fish in which all fishes have uniform shape, size, colour and weight. It amounts that we re-write our curriculum, spellings, examples of small and big, size and mathematical calculations. Other problem is colour of fish. We have seen fishes of a few distinct colours, so it is easy for primary school level children to be taught seven distinct colours. Genetically engineered fish show fluorescent, translucent and combinations colours and this terminology is to be included in the syllabus.

Other example is chicken. Since our childhren have seen a photographs of chicken with feathers, but genetically engineered featureless chicken no more look like a chicken, so children get confused with photographs of feather-less chicken..

In our childhood we have seen that cow, buffalo, goat, sheep eat fodder and that what we taught to our children. But in 20th century we have given bone meal to cow. It means our definition of carnivorous and harbivours has changed. Now dog which is a carnivorous animal eat wheat bread and rice. Crow which is a carnivorous depend upon vegetables and fruits due to shortage of access to meat by it.

In rural areas we always see lot of butter flies but due to green-revolution, climatic change, and global warming their population has diminished. In our biology class we have learn that butter-flies. Insects are used for transferring of pollen from one plant to other and as a result pollination take place and fruit is formed. This is to be incorporated in our knowledge.

Genetic engineering, molecular biology and tissue culture and biotechnology have brought a revolution in agriculture. Many of these plants have peculiar characteristic and they no more are based on cross-pollination. Instead they are self-pollinated.

In rural area the people have spent all their life in agriculture and if they pass their life long practical experience, knowledge and teaching to the children. This knowledge will be too old and un-practical, according to century’s demands.

In the olden days we preserved, seeds for next crop but hybrid varieties and intellectual property rights does not allow this practice. In olden days we always told our children that roses are red but now new hybrids of roses consisting of all colours including black and white are available. Previously the grand mother’s tales about moon being very beautiful and beautiful children were compared to moon. In this century when man has already reached the moon and its telescopic picture are published in the newspapers, people know that moon is having uneven surface and it is not as beautiful as it looked from the earth. Thus if you tell children that they are so beautiful like moon they may not like this idea. Our old ways of references are changing. Previous we knew that fruits and vegetable can not kept fresh, except for a few days but genetically engineered food commodities have better shelf life and more nutrition value.

Our curriculum of biology, mathematics, science and arts has to be changed according to new circumstances in which our environment, urbanisation, technology and industries are entirely changed than we have studied, observed or listened to in the past.


In Pakistan they conducted an entry examination for kinder-garden children. They observed few children when given a task to write A to Z, they were so involved into with stationary, scales, pencils, boxes, sharpeners, a drawing alphabets along with examples and were coping. The children are put to computer use at an early age in their home and they do not like to remember tables instead they use calculators.

The industries have changed with the time and even school children carry a latest version of telephone. The children now involve more in using technology. They do not put friend’s phone and address on a note book, but instead learn to press button in a mobile, telephone or dairy or calculators or computers to store their require data.

The genetic and advanced technologically has produced commodities, agriculture, animals, medicine, process industries and all manufacturing plants. To run and understand things like environmental pollution, good health, global warming and climatic change to make our children familiar with coming developments, we need to rewrite the syllabus from primary to the university level. Along with these following suggestion may be considered:

Suggestions.

1) Primary school children may be taken to aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens and fruit and vegetable markets.

2) Secondary level students may be taken to all industries, sea ports, air-ports, dry-ports and computer centres.

3) All agriculture universities graduate students in agriculture may spend some time with advance technologies centres like: agriculture, soil and plant testing laboratories, tissue-culture, molecular biology and genetic engineering laboratories, showing them export, import and pre and post-harvest conditions.

4) Medical students may taken to various hospitals showing them patients with new diseases, train them on various computerised and advance machines used in medical line and showing them new research work in the laboratories. They also be familiarised with pharmaceutical industries and doctors should be ready to be sent any part of the world, where ever need arises.

5) Engineering students may be taken to various manufacturing in industries. They should know to computerise and satellite controlled missiles technology and advances in aeroplanes, rails, buses, ships, refrigerated lorries, assembling and manufacturing etc.

Conclusion.

In order to meet the new century’s demands, we have to build some think tank, having specialists, in every walk of life and define a new syllabus, which should have uniform educational standards, so our children should be familiarised with developing and develop world and build the new uniform world for sustainable development, with same laws for every one like: WTO, Intellectual Property rights, Information Technologies and Advance Sciences. We will hope this help to bring peace and satisfaction in the world.

Author: Farzana Panhwar (Mrs)
Address: 157-C, Unit No.2, Latifabad, Hyderabad
(Sindh), Pakistan.
E-mail: farzanapanhwar@hotmail.com
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