Politics of Pakistan’s Single National Curriculum: Insights from Multiple Streams Analysis
Abstract
This article provides insights about why, how and under which conditions policy change transpires in Pakistan’s political, religious and social settings, using the adoption of the Single National Curriculum in 2021 by Imran Khan’s government as a case study. Kingdon’s multiple streams analysis is applied to explain how this policy came into existence despite vagueness in constitutional mandate and opposition from many policy actors. Although a single curriculum as a policy idea to tackle inequality in education was already in the public domain, Imran Khan’s party used politically-charged terms like “education apartheid” and “class divide” to bring it to prominence. This framing was impeccably aligned with Imran’s own beliefs and his party’s varied criteria to gain public support. This also led to alliances with hegemonic religious alliances to broaden the public support. The party’s victory in the 2018 election created a ‘window of opportunity’ in which the problem of class-divide in the education system, the policy idea of a single curriculum, and politics converged perfectly to let the political power override all forms of opposition to this idea. The article highlights the potential of the multiple streams analysis for its general application in policy studies.
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