Pre-Draft of NCF for Schools

Pre-Draft of NCF for Schools
 

News: The Ministry of Education (MoE) released a pre-draft version of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education and has sought feedback from various stakeholders.
 

Background:
 The pre-draft was formulated by a committee led by K Kasturirangan, a former head of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
 As School education is the foundation stone of a child’s life, the National Education Policy 2020 recommends – Shift from 10+2 structure to 5+3+3+4, Developmental perspectives suggest curricular and pedagogical shifts at foundational, preparatory (grade III, IV & V), middle and secondary stages.
 

What are the four sections of NCF?
 NCF for School Education
 NCF for Early Childhood Care and Education (Foundational Stage)
 NCF for Teacher Education
 NCF for Adult Education
 

What does the pre-draft say for NCF for School education?
 It covers the framework of curriculum for age groups 3 to 18 years and a key part of the document is the inclusion of values and their “rootedness” in India, in Content and learning of languages and Pedagogical approaches including tools and resources, etc
 It leans towards making students acquainted with true sources of knowledge – a philosophical preoccupation of ancient Indians. These sources focus on Six Pramanas

 It also focuses on moral development of a child which will be carried out through Pancha Kosha Vikas (5-fold development) - annamaya kosha (physical layer) pranamaya kosha (life force energy layer), manomaya kosha (mind layer), vijnanamaya kosha (intellectual layer) and anandamaya kosha (inner self).
 It focuses on teaching the concepts of different religious and philosophical traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism, and Vedic philosophies, to promote cultural diversity and interfaith understanding.
 It proposes that explicit tests and exams are not suitable assessment tools for children in classes up to 2 and recommends introducing written tests only from class 3 onwards to avoid imposing additional burden on the child.
 For Grade 10 certification, students will have to take two essential courses from humanities, maths and computing, vocational education, physical education, arts education, social science, science, and other interdisciplinary areas.
 In Grades 11 and 12, students will be offered choice-based courses in the same disciplines for more rigorous engagement. This phase of the Secondary Stage would be divided into semesters and each choicebased course would be for a semester.
 Students must complete 16 choice-based courses to complete Grade 12.
 Modular Board Exams will be offered as opposed to a single exam at the end of the year, and the result will be based on the cumulative result of each exam. Currently, the life-determining board examinations are available only on two occasions (grade 10 and 12), which prevents truly holistic development of students.
 

It has suggested 3 approaches to assessments
 ‘of learning‘ (measurement of achievement of student learning),
 ‘for learning‘ (evidence of student learning gathered by the teacher that provides inputs to guide the teaching-learning processes) and
 ‘as learning‘ (when assessments are introduced as non-threatening tools for self-reflection and introspection).