April 27, 2021 When development of the Single National Curriculum (SNC) began with the express objective of “erasing class differences”, observers who pointed to the pitfalls of using education in yet another attempt at social engineering were told to hold their objections until the new curriculum was released. When the SNC became public and civil society observers pointed out the many ways it fell short of promises of mainstreaming critical thinking, creativity, tolerance, diversity, interfaith harmony, they were again told to wait until the model textbooks came out – they would be blown away. They would be so markedly improved that parents of children on the O/A-Level track would come rushing back to public school certifications. Now that Urdu and English model textbooks for grades-I to V have leaked, I have to admit to at least one thing: I am indeed blown away, but not for the promised reasons.