Shaping national sentiment: A comparative analysis of matric and O-levels curricula in Pakistan

By Ayesha Sohail

National curricula are key instruments for shaping citizenship, collective identity, and civic responsibility. Pakistan’s curriculum frameworks explicitly emphasise ideological orientation, national cohesion, and constitutional citizenship. However, Pakistan’s secondary education system is divided between the matric and O-level streams. As of June 2024, about 4.5 million students were enrolled in matric, compared to roughly 210,000 in O-levels. Although both systems aim to educate youth, their approaches to shaping national sentiment differ significantly.

This insight compares how the matric and O-levels curricula shape national sentiment through three key subjects: Pakistan Studies, Urdu, and Islamic Studies.

Table 1: Pakistan Studies Comparison

Source: Matric and O-Levels Pakistan Studies Books

In the Matric system, Pakistan Studies focuses on ideology, national history, and geography through a sentiment-driven narrative. Ideology portrays Pakistan as an Islamic state, while geography uses terms like “our land” and “our resources”.

History emphasises Muslim political distinctiveness and presents Pakistan’s creation as inevitable, reinforcing a cohesive but strongly normative national worldview.  In contrast, the O-levels Pakistan Studies curriculum adopts a more analytical framework. Historical developments, including the Pakistan Movement, are examined through causes, consequences, and multiple perspectives. Examination questions frequently ask students to evaluate arguments using prompts such as “to what extent” or “assess whether.” Rather than presenting a single narrative, the syllabus encourages critical engagement with political developments, institutions, and economic challenges.

Table 2: Matric and O-Levels Pakistan Studies Content Analysis

Source: Matric and O-Levels Pakistan Studies Syllabus

To summarise, the Matric Pakistan Studies curriculum emphasises national sentiment nearly twice as much as O-levels; about 67% versus 34%; making Matric a nation-building syllabus, while O- levels focus more on state studies and political economy.

 Figure 1: Pakistan Studies Syllabus

Source: Self-compiled

Table 3: Urdu ComparisoSource: Matric and O-Levels Urdu Textbooks

In the Matric system, Urdu contributes to nation-building by combining literary study with themes of cultural identity and collective values. Prose and poetry often
emphasise حب الوطن (love of homeland), national unity, and Urdu as a symbol of identity, embedding patriotic sentiment within moral and literary lessons. Over time, the focus shifts to ethical reflection, textual interpretation, and literary analysis, allowing national sentiment to coexist with the development of language and critical reading skills.

By contrast, the O-levels Urdu syllabus functions primarily as a language proficiency qualification, emphasising grammar, comprehension, and expressive accuracy rather than ideological formation. Text selection is guided largely by literary merit, with cultural themes framed within broader South Asian or universal contexts rather than explicitly Pakistan-centric narratives.

Table 4: Matric and O-Levels Urdu Content Analysi

Source: Matric and O-Levels Urdu Syllabus

To summarise, matric Urdu promotes national sentiment in about 61% of content, while O-levels Urdu emphasises it only 27%, keeping language instruction largely separate from ideology.

Figure 2: Urdu Syllabus

Source: Self-compiled

Table – 5: Islamic Studies Comparative Analysis

Source: Matric and O-Levels Islamic Studies Books

In matric system, Islamic Studies supports Pakistan’s identity as an Islamic state by connecting national aims with Islamic principles and moral values. However, the syllabus largely emphasizes religious teachings, practices, and ethics rather than direct nationalist themes. Thus, it mainly offers religious guidance and legitimacy, indirectly supporting national identity rather than acting as the primary source of nationalist education.

In contrast, the O-levels Islamic Studies syllabus does not incorporate themes of Pakistani nationalism or state identity. The curriculum focuses primarily on global Islamic teachings, the life of the Prophet, and early Islamic history. It does not include units on Pakistan’s creation, constitutional development, political institutions, or national identity. While teachers in Pakistan may contextualize discussions locally, such content is not formally required within the official syllabus.

Table – 6: Matric and O-Levels Islamic Studies Content Analysis

Source: Matric and O-Levels Islamic Studies Syllabus

To summarize, matric curriculum presents Islam as central to Pakistani identity, with 41% of learning outcomes emphasizing its ideological role, making Islamic Studies a key tool for ideological socialization.

Figure -3: Islamic Studies Syllabus

Source: Self-compiled

Pakistan’s secondary education pathways shape students’ understanding of identity and citizenship in different ways: the matric system strongly promotes national identity through ideological and historical narratives, while the O-levels system emphasises analytical skills and global perspectives, often with less engagement with Pakistan’s national context.

Figure 4: Strengths and Limitations of Matric & O-Levels

Source: Image generated using AI

The Matric curriculum is designed and administered by Pakistani education boards and caters to the majority of students. According to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, over 85-90% of secondary school students are enrolled in the Matric system. In contrast, the O-levels curriculum, developed by Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE), serves about 5-10% of students, mainly in urban centres.

The O-level system is often criticised for being an expensive form of education. A student spends between 1 to 4.5 million rupees over two years on school fee, exams, textbooks, and tutoring, making it largely accessible only to affluent families.

The regulation of the O-levels system in Pakistan operates through a multi-tiered governance framework involving federal, inter-provincial, and provincial institutions. At the federal level, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training provides overall strategic direction and ensures that foreign curricula align with national education priorities. At the inter-provincial level, the Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) ensures standardisation by issuing equivalence certificates that convert O-level grades into the local marking system.

Table 7: IBCC Role in O-Levels

Source: IBCC

Lastly, at the provincial level, authorities such as the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) and the provincial education departments regulate the functioning of schools by overseeing registration, fees, and compliance. O-levels is academically governed by CAIE; their operation in Pakistan is shaped by state oversight through equivalence policies, institutional regulation, and national alignment frameworks.

However, the analysis in this insight clearly demonstrates a substantial divergence between the matric and O-level curricula in Pakistan. This gap highlights the need for deliberate policy intervention, which has been missing because the focus is directed toward concerns such as regulation, fee structure, admissions, and the fair conversion of grades into local marks.

The government of Pakistan needs to work toward bringing both systems in closer alignment by reducing curricular disparities and minimising the difference between them, while promoting a more balanced integration of national context and analytical skills. Achieving greater standardisation and uniformity will not only ensure fairness across educational pathways but also strengthen a cohesive national framework for learning. To move in this direction, curriculum reform must become a priority topic of discussion among relevant authorities, so that a more harmonised and inclusive education system can be developed.