Lighter books with QR codes for montessori to grade-5 students in Punjab from April 2027

LAHORE: Books under a new curriculum for montessori to grade 5 would be available for the new academic session beginning in April 2027, an official told Dawn on Thursday.

Authorities say that the revised curriculum will reduce the burden of textbooks and would steer a shift away from rote learning.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam gave her approval for the new curriculum while chairing a meeting in Lahore, in which the curricula for English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Urdu and Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) were reviewed.

Punjab Education Curriculum, Training and Assessment Authority (Pectaa) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Musa Ali Bukhari told Dawn that Pectaa developed new curriculum for ECCE to grade 5 that was later sent to the Cambridge International Education (CIE) for assessment and comparison with international curricula.

The CIE — a globally recognised international education framework for students — would provide the final content of the curriculum in December 2026 and Pectaa would begin printing the textbooks in January, Bukhari said.

Books under the new curriculum would be made available for the new academic session beginning in April 2027, he added.

The official said the revised curriculum was also aimed at reducing the cost of textbooks as the number of pages in books would be reduced.

According to Bukhari, the volume of textbooks will reduce by 25 per cent and each textbook will carry QR codes through which students will be able to access video lessons.

Moreover, the focus under the new curriculum would be on improving learning outcomes instead of memorisation, he said.

Bukhari said that Cambridge officials, who were involved in developing the curriculum content, would also train teachers for teaching the new syllabus.

AI curriculum

According to a statement issued by the CM’s Office, the meeting chaired by Maryam agreed that Saturdays would be “dedicated to teachers’ training across Punjab, while authors of the new textbooks would conduct training sessions for teachers”.

It said that during Thursday’s meeting, the provincial chief executive directed the relevant officials to finalise an artificial intelligence (AI) curriculum for grade 1-12 and stressed that computer laboratories should be developed alongside the new curriculum.

The meeting’s participants also agreed to introduce mental health training for teachers and considered appointing visiting psychologists in every district. Online counselling facilities for students were also proposed.

They also agreed in principle on the need for a legislation against corporal punishment in schools, the statement said, adding that the establishment of “discipline corners” in classrooms was proposed to replace physical punishment.

According to the statement, CM Maryam stressed that physical violence in schools could have a lifelong impact on children and called for constructive disciplinary measures instead of corporal punishment.

It was further agreed that Saturdays would be “dedicated to teachers’ training across Punjab, while authors of the new textbooks would conduct training sessions for teachers”.

Moreover, the CM was informed that English-language training had been completed for 35,000 teachers in 31 tehsils of 12 Punjab’s districts.