Education systems are complex, and involve multi-dimensional approaches that focus on curriculum development, syllabus, strategic teaching frameworks, professional trainings, and effective learning and technical skills development in a bid to achieve their goals. Revision and upgrade of curriculum is essential to enrich the learning experience of students in line with the rapidly evolving global trends, not just in the education sector but also elsewhere. The increasing digitalisation has paved the path to acquiring new skills that are now required to survive in an altogether competitive global market.

In such a scenario, an education system that reinforces the need to provide equal learning and development opportunities for everyone is a great initiative. The Single National Curriculum (SNC) is no longer a mere conceptual debate. It is now being implemented nationwide as we speak. Initially, the government has launched the SNC at the primary level nationwide. I strongly believe that the implementation is in a critical phase.

During the development process of the SNC for primary level, the government opted for a strategic policy to train primary school teachers (PSTs). I have observed the sequential strategic policy framework for SNC-based teachers’ training by the government while working in a lead role. The federal government gave the task of planning and implementation of SNC-based teacher training to Quaid-i-Azam Academy for Educational Development (QAED), Punjab. The QAED put forth a call for material developers, lead and master trainers to implement the teacher training programme, inviting talent from both the public and private sector. In the development phase of the training material, different subject specialists were selected by a team from the Ministry of Education and the QAED, Punjab. Expert developers worked on the training material for primary school teachers, focusing on the need to train the teachers in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), subject-based competencies’ development processes, modern teaching strategies and learning paradigms. The material was reviewed by subject experts to ensure that the quality of the training material was maintained.

The SNC-based training material for primary teachers was developed on Learning Management System (LMS) in collaboration with the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to implement the online training programme for a broader reach. Later, selected lead and master trainers trained PSTs in batches to effectively demonstrate the essence of the SNC under the supervision of the QAED, Punjab. The training offers free-of-cost online opportunity to both private and public sector primary school teachers.

There is a dire need to add professional development training courses with each degree programme to build a skillful human resource. Because, at the end, a skilled human capital is the real asset of any country.

The author is the CEO and lead trainer, Expert Training Institute