Oxford adds three new compulsory courses in Pakistan

Karachi: Oxford AQA has announced the introduction of three new compulsory curricula in Pakistan.

This initiative is a significant step towards providing Pakistani students with modern and locally relevant education in preparation for the international GCSE examinations, which aim to effectively promote critical thinking, analytical skills, and exam preparation. The curriculum content has been developed in the context of global development, with an emphasis on independent research and collaboration.

Director Salma Adil said that we are delighted to introduce examinations and textbooks for Urdu, Islamic Studies, and Pakistan Studies. This milestone reflects the fact that we are providing such resources to schools.

Meanwhile, the Cambridge Examination Board, unlike the country's government education boards, has started the process of showing Pakistani students their answer scripts for the first time. It was decided, keeping in mind the principles of transparency. Now, A and O-level students will be able to see their answer scripts online, and after reviewing them, they will be able to decide on the scrutiny of the answer copy, while the process will be completely free.

This was stated by the Country Manager of the Cambridge Examination Board, Pakistan, Uzma Yousaf, during her visit to Karachi, while talking to media representatives. Giving more details regarding showing answer scripts to A and O level students, she said that all schools affiliated with Cambridge have been given access to the examination copies of each subject for their respective enrolled students. Now, any student who wants to see their copy can come to their school and see the answer script. This process will be completely free. Cambridge will not charge any fee to the schools. After reviewing the answer sheet, if the student agrees, he can apply for scrutiny.

In response to a question, she said that the largest number of Cambridge students in the world at A and O levels is enrolled in Pakistan, that is, 130,000. The second largest number of enrolled students is in the United States, followed by China, India, and Dubai. Talking about unnecessary or additional content in the curriculum, she stated that it is a burden on students. The content of the Cambridge curriculum is concise, which makes students study only what is necessary.