National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage

National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage

News: Recently, the Ministry of Education has launched Learning - Teaching Material for the Foundational Stage under National Education Policy 2020 and Jadui Pitara was also initiated as well.

What is Jadui Pitara?
 Jadui Pitara is a play-based learning-teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3-8 years.
 It comprises playbooks, toys, puzzles, posters, flash cards, story books, worksheets as well as reflecting the local culture, social context and languages is designed to pique curiosity and accommodate the diverse needs of learners in the foundational stage.
 It has been developed under the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and is available in 13 Indian languages. It intends to enrich learning-teaching environment and make it more child-centric.

What is National Curriculum Framework for Foundational stage?
 As per the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, following four NCFs will be developed - National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCFECCE), National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) , National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) and National Curriculum Framework for Adult Education (NCFAE).
 NCF, under NCFECCE, for foundational stage is the first ever integrated Curriculum Framework for children between ages 3-8 in India.
 This is the first Stage in the 5+3+3+4 Curricular and Pedagogical restructuring of School Education as envisioned in NEP 2020.
 Objective is to help in positively transforming the school education system as envisioned in NEP 2020, through corresponding positive changes in the curriculum including pedagogy.
 It will be the basis for all pedagogy adopted by schools, pre-schools and anganwadis for children studying between nursery and Class 2.

Key Highlights of NCF:
 Students should be taught exclusively in their mother tongue until the age of eight.
 For ages three to six, there should not be any prescribed textbooks for the children, and instead NCF recommended simple worksheets for curricular goals and pedagogical needs.
 Introducing an ethics component into the curriculum early on to build character, lead productive and happy lives, and contribute positively to society.
 Balanced gender and community representation through use of stories, characters, and pictures, must be ensured, books need to be attractive and should grab the attention of young children.
 It includes activities that are fun and engaging for the children. For example, story-telling, riddles, toys, visual art etc
 Providing better learning environment. It should be well lit and ventilated etc.
 Panchkosha system for education. The framework includes Physical development, intellectual development, spiritual development, development of life energy and emotional and mental development. The Panchkosha system is described in Taittriya Upanishad.