NATIONAL
CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK – POLITY
News:
Government releases
pre-draft of National Curriculum Framework for schools, seeks feedback
What's
in the news?
●
The Ministry of Education released a
pre-draft version of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education on
April 6, 2023, and has sought feedback from various stakeholders, including
students, parents, teachers, teacher educators, experts, scholars and
professionals.
Key
takeaways:
●
The textbooks based on the revised NCF
will be taught in schools starting from
the 2024-25 academic session.
National
Curriculum Framework (NCF):
●
NCF provides the framework for creation of
the school syllabi and the writing of textbooks, while giving guidelines on
teaching practices in India.
●
It addresses four issues:
a.
Educational purpose
b.
Educational experience
c.
Organization of experience
d.
Assessing learners.
●
NCF is only suggestive and provides
guidelines on different aspects of education.
●
All the states also developed the State Curriculum Framework (SCF) in
line with NCF.
Purpose:
●
To make education comparable across the
country in qualitative terms and
also making it as a means of ensuring
national integration without compromising on the country’s pluralistic
character.
Previous
NCF:
NCF past guidelines came
in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005.
●
NCF
1975: General Science as a compulsory subject, activity
based integrated science recommended up to Class X.
●
NCF
1988: Science curriculum should be learner-centered,
develop well-defined abilities in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.
●
NCF
2000: Teaching of Science and tech in upper primary and
secondary, part of environment studies in primary recommended.
●
NCF
2005: Focus on learning without burden, reduction in
syllabus, including age appropriate concepts.
Sections
of NCF:
The NCF has four
sections:
Proposed
Changes in NCF:
The NCF steering
committee headed by former ISRO chairperson K Kasturirangan proposed the
following changes.
1.
Classes and learning circumstances:
a.
Foundational level:
●
At the foundational level, for children
aged 3-8 enrolled in grades between preschool and class II, the pedagogical
approach suggested is play based.
●
It adds that textbooks are to be used from Grade 1 and most of the content
should be concrete materials – toys, puzzles, and manipulatives.
●
Along with these materials, learning
experience organized through physical exploration of the classroom and outdoor space becomes the most
appropriate content.
b.
Preparatory stage:
●
For grades III, IV, V or the preparatory
stage, children are to be introduced to textbooks
on languages, mathematics, while also retaining the activity and
discovery-based approach.
c.
Middle stage:
●
In the middle stage (class VI, VII, VIII),
natural as well as social sciences will
be introduced.
●
The textbooks need to play a central role
in mediating the content in the Middle Stage.
●
Both the expansion of curricular areas and
the engagement with abstract ideas and unfamiliar contexts could be challenging
and bewildering for students.
●
Well-designed textbooks with clear
expectations and specific learning goals would support students in entering
these forms of understanding in a structured and systematic manner.
d.
Choice of subjects in Class IX-XII:
●
The most significant recommendations in
the draft NCF on school education are about choice of subjects and exams in classes IX-XII.
●
Over two years, in class IX and X, the
students will have to study 16 courses
categorised under eight curricular areas.
●
The suggested curricular areas are
Humanities (that includes languages), Mathematics & Computing, Vocational
Education, Physical Education, Arts, Social Science, Science, and
Inter-disciplinary Areas.
2.
Continuous assessment:
●
Students will have to clear eight board
exams, each of which will assess their hold on courses they learnt in class IX
and X, to obtain the final certification which will factor in their
performances in exams held over two years.
3.
Semester system in Class XII:
●
The committee has recommended more changes
at the level of Class XI and XII, including the introduction of a semester
system in class XII.
●
Modular
Board Examinations will be offered as opposed to a single
examination at the end of the year. The final certification will be based on
the cumulative result of each of the examinations
4.
Multidisciplinary education:
●
In terms of subjects, students will be
given a choice to pick 16 courses from eight curricular areas.
●
Currently, in Class 12, CBSE students
appear for the board exam in at least five subjects and a maximum of six and
there is little scope for them to pursue multidisciplinary education. In other
words, a student who has picked a combination of Physics, Mathematics and
Chemistry cannot simultaneously study History or Political Science.
●
Under the proposed system, that will be
possible as the NEP envisages “no hard
separation” among arts, humanities, and sciences.