NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK 

1. Context 

• The NCF, which was last revised in 2005 is a key document based on which textbooks are prepared.
• So the current set of NCERT textbooks, barring the deletions are all based on the NCF 2005.
• Before 2005, the NCF was revised thrice, including once under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

3. Draft Framework

• Under the latest round of revision, a draft framework on early childhood care and education and school education has already been prepared, while work on teacher and adult education is underway.
• Apart from textbooks, the NCF, after its adoption by the CBSE and other state boards will also restructure various other aspects of the classroom, including the choice of subjects, the pattern of teaching and assessment.

4. Proposed Changes

• Among the most significant recommendations in the draft NCF on school education are about the choice of subjects and exams in classes IX-XII.
• Over two years, in classes 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.
• 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 into their performances in exams held over two years.
• Under the current system, there are no such links between class IX and X and students across most boards have to pass at least five subjects to clear class X.
• The committee has recommended more changes at the level of Class XI and XII, including the introduction of a semester system in Class XII.
• 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.
• But under the proposed system, that will be possible as the NEP envisages "no hard separation" among arts, humanities and sciences.

5. Changes in the teaching-learning for younger students

• At the foundation 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 experiences organized through physical exploration of the classroom space become the most appropriate content.
• For Grades III, IV and V or the preparatory stage, children are to be introduced to textbooks on languages and mathematics, while also retaining the activity and discovery-based approach.
• And 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.

6. Proposed changes in specific subjects

• The NCF pre-draft on school education is not so much about specific changes in textbooks as those details will be put out in the position papers being developed by the 12-member steering committee and sub-committees of experts under it known as focus groups.
• However, it carries certain observations and suggestions. For instance, it says that stressing a lone piece of evidence, instead of exposing children to multiple contrasting pieces of evidence, throws up a "lopsided or inadequate picture" of a topic in social science textbooks.
• In Maths, it says that many students have developed a "real fear" of the subject in the current system.
• Methods of assessment in maths have also encouraged rote learning and promoted the perception of maths as "mechanical computation" it says.
• The solution, the committee says, is a shift towards play, activity, discovery and discussion-based learning.

7. Changes come into effect

• The government recently announced that textbooks based on the revised NCF will be taught in schools starting from the 2024-25 academic session.
• But a specific timeline for the implementation of the changes on exams, assessments and subject design has not been made available yet.
• In a statement, the Education Ministry said that the pre-draft of the NCF "still requires several rounds of discussion within the National Steering Committee".

For Prelims & Mains

Previous Year Questions