Division system to be reinstated in secondary education

The education ministry has decided to reintroduce the division system – Science, Arts, and Commerce – in secondary education, effective immediately.

This marks a shift from the new curriculum introduced earlier this year, which eliminated the division system for ninth-grade students.

A circular issued by the education ministry on Sunday outlined the necessary changes in teaching methods and assessment processes, indicating that evaluations will resemble the system used under the 2012 national curriculum.

Textbooks will also undergo revisions.

According to the circular, the decision follows feedback from the field, research findings, and stakeholder opinions, which highlighted several challenges in implementing the National Curriculum 2022.

These challenges include inadequate teacher preparation, confusion about the content and assessment methods, and a lack of institutional capacity. Consequently, the new curriculum is deemed unfeasible for implementation at this time.

The directive from the education ministry includes several important instructions. Textbooks for pre-primary students, indigenous communities, and grades 1-3 will be revised and printed with necessary modifications to ensure consistency across all grades, with changes also being made to teaching and evaluation methods.

For grades 6-9, the current textbooks will remain in use throughout 2024, with revised versions expected by 2025. Students in these grades will be assessed using a modified evaluation system for the remainder of 2024, including their annual exams in December. The framework for this modified evaluation process will be distributed to schools soon.

Additionally, students advancing to grade 10 in 2025 will continue with the division system of science, arts, and commerce and will receive textbooks revised based on the previous curriculum. A shortened syllabus will be introduced to ensure the curriculum is completed within the academic year.

Students who advance to grade 9 in 2025 will receive textbooks revised according to the previous curriculum and will complete their studies over two years, culminating in the SSC and equivalent exams in 2027.

The revised curriculum for 2025 will be finalised with the collaboration of education experts, curriculum specialists, pedagogues, evaluation experts, relevant administrators, civil society representatives, and parents, with full implementation expected by 2026.