The government is to finalise a uniform national educational curriculum for class 1 to class V1 by the end of next month, Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood announced on Tuesday.

He said that teaching of the uniform curriculum would begin by next year.

This, the minister said, while addressing a four-day conference on single national curriculum (Grade I-V) with the slogan "One Nation, One Curriculum", organised by the National Curriculum Council (NCC), Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training here on Tuesday.

The minister maintained, "We had to face huge challenges when the PM tasked [us] to bring uniform education system; especially after the 18th Amendment it was not possible to bring all [the] stakeholders on one platform. But I was pleased to see the full support and cooperation of the stakeholders including madaris and private schools."

"There were other challenges, especially the language of the new single curriculum, and review of the current examination system," Mahmood added.

He said that the standard of the new single national curriculum would hopefully surpass current syllabus of premier schools of the country where medium of instruction was English. Mahmood said that the new curricula would be prepared in three phases.

Under Phase-I the curriculum from class 1 to 6 will be prepared by March 2020, which will be implemented by next year, he said.

Mahmood said that the new single national curriculum would be implemented by April 2021 with the help of the experts.

"The ownership of the new curriculum would be given to all stakeholders," he added.

Mahmood said that a uniform education system across the country would definitely bring about major reform in the society.

"The future generations will be proud of us," he added.

Mahmood said Prime Minister Imran Khan had been pointing out that current multi-layered curriculum was the main reason for the division and gulf among different strata of the society and had assigned him the task to work out new single national curriculum after assuming the office.

The minister stated that parallel education system in Pakistan over the past 72 years dampened passion and abilities of the nation by graduating the students with different thinking patterns and capabilities. "It was the failure of state for the last 72 years as it did not focus on education with a single national curriculum," he added.

Mahmood, while lauding the role of religious madaris in imparting education to the children of the poor and deprived sections of the society said that in religious seminaries there was the same curriculum for all the students regardless of their social status.

Under the current education system, he said the education standard for rich and the poor was markedly different.

Mahmood called upon participants and experts to take up the challenge unanimously and passionately.

"You have to think that how new generations would be made a true Muslim, and a good Pakistani through the new syllabus. The new curricula should also teach ethics to the minorities according to their religions," he added.

Earlier, Joint Education Adviser in the Ministry of Federal Education Rafiq Tahir gave detailed presentation on the goals, key features of the four-day conference.

He said that during the conference, the stakeholders would deliberate on various areas of the new curriculum and then the recommendations would be presented to the minister.