Tag: National Curriculum Framework

  • Dharmendra Pradhan launches National Curriculum Framework for 3-8 years children

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday launched the National Curriculum Framework for foundational stage education of children in the three to eight age group.   

    Describing the NCF, which emphasises that early childhood care and education are critical areas of development, as an important step taken to implement the New Education Policy – 2020, Pradhan appealed to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to complete the curriculum, syllabus, and textbooks by next Basant Panchami. 

    “This will help equip our young ones with cognitive and linguistic competencies of the 21st century,” he said at the launch.

    As it is considered that children learn best through play, the curriculum thus envisages knowing by providing stimulating experiences for their development in all dimensions – cognitive, social-emotional, and physical. It will also enable the achievement of foundational literacy and numeracy for all our children.

    Pradhan also launched Balvatika for students of age group 3-5 years in 50 Kendriya Vidyalayas (VK) on a pilot basis, one of the most important recommendations of NEP 2020.

    “Foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary are the four stages of NCF for school education. Developing the foundational framework was one of the most important and challenging aspects under NEP 2020, as it has a huge bearing on shaping the future of our country,” the minister said.

    Balvatika will be implemented from the next academic year in all Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools. “We will also discuss with state governments to implement this initiative in their schools,” he said, adding that Uttarakhand has implemented and institutionalised Balvatika in more than 4,000 schools. 

    He also said that in the next few years, 100 percent of children in the 3-year age group would be brought under formal schooling.

    NCF, for the foundational stage of school education, will lay a strong foundation for building a 21st-century India and asked NCERT to translate into regional languages. “It is a pathway for nurturing global citizens who will take responsibility for humanity,” he said, adding that the holistic development of a child takes place in the first five years. 

    Innovative technology and game-based education are bringing new paradigms in teaching pedagogy. “We have to work together on a war footing to create innovative, games-based content,” Pradhan said.

    The NCF-2022 has four sections – school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education. 

    The framework said that “brain development is most rapid in the first eight years of a child’s life, indicating the critical importance of cognitive and socio-emotional stimulation in the early years.”

    The framework has listed the ‘panchakosha’ concept for children’s education, and its five parts are physical development, development of life energy, emotional and mental development, intellectual development and spiritual development. Panchakosha is an ancient explication of the importance of the body-mind complex in human experience and understanding. 

    All these engagements aim to achieve the three developmental goals of maintaining good health and well-being, becoming effective communicators, and becoming involved learners.

    The framework said that while staffing of Anganwadis is not complete, it is at high levels. However, it did not have data for private institutions. The number of institutions offering relevant teacher education programmes is low and inadequate. 

    The NCF will be transacted over three months, with four hours a day devoted to familiarising children with the school environment and providing well-being experiences.

    The entry-level education will enable learning of ethical values and cultural diversity and interaction with the physical, social and natural environment, the NCF said.

    NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday launched the National Curriculum Framework for foundational stage education of children in the three to eight age group.   

    Describing the NCF, which emphasises that early childhood care and education are critical areas of development, as an important step taken to implement the New Education Policy – 2020, Pradhan appealed to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to complete the curriculum, syllabus, and textbooks by next Basant Panchami. 

    “This will help equip our young ones with cognitive and linguistic competencies of the 21st century,” he said at the launch.

    As it is considered that children learn best through play, the curriculum thus envisages knowing by providing stimulating experiences for their development in all dimensions – cognitive, social-emotional, and physical. It will also enable the achievement of foundational literacy and numeracy for all our children.

    Pradhan also launched Balvatika for students of age group 3-5 years in 50 Kendriya Vidyalayas (VK) on a pilot basis, one of the most important recommendations of NEP 2020.

    “Foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary are the four stages of NCF for school education. Developing the foundational framework was one of the most important and challenging aspects under NEP 2020, as it has a huge bearing on shaping the future of our country,” the minister said.

    Balvatika will be implemented from the next academic year in all Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools. “We will also discuss with state governments to implement this initiative in their schools,” he said, adding that Uttarakhand has implemented and institutionalised Balvatika in more than 4,000 schools. 

    He also said that in the next few years, 100 percent of children in the 3-year age group would be brought under formal schooling.

    NCF, for the foundational stage of school education, will lay a strong foundation for building a 21st-century India and asked NCERT to translate into regional languages. “It is a pathway for nurturing global citizens who will take responsibility for humanity,” he said, adding that the holistic development of a child takes place in the first five years. 

    Innovative technology and game-based education are bringing new paradigms in teaching pedagogy. “We have to work together on a war footing to create innovative, games-based content,” Pradhan said.

    The NCF-2022 has four sections – school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education. 

    The framework said that “brain development is most rapid in the first eight years of a child’s life, indicating the critical importance of cognitive and socio-emotional stimulation in the early years.”

    The framework has listed the ‘panchakosha’ concept for children’s education, and its five parts are physical development, development of life energy, emotional and mental development, intellectual development and spiritual development. Panchakosha is an ancient explication of the importance of the body-mind complex in human experience and understanding. 

    All these engagements aim to achieve the three developmental goals of maintaining good health and well-being, becoming effective communicators, and becoming involved learners.

    The framework said that while staffing of Anganwadis is not complete, it is at high levels. However, it did not have data for private institutions. The number of institutions offering relevant teacher education programmes is low and inadequate. 

    The NCF will be transacted over three months, with four hours a day devoted to familiarising children with the school environment and providing well-being experiences.

    The entry-level education will enable learning of ethical values and cultural diversity and interaction with the physical, social and natural environment, the NCF said.

  • Centre calls for people’s participation in making curriculum for new India

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday urged people to participate in the citizen survey to prepare a curriculum for New India. 

    “Development of a vibrant,  dynamic, inclusive and futuristic National Curriculum Framework is essential for integrating cultural-rootedness along with global outlook, freeing education from a colonial hangover and instilling a deeper sense of pride in our next generations,” he said in a tweet.

    “I appeal to all citizens to participate in the Citizen Survey for NCF for developing #NayeBharatKaNayaCurriculum. A dynamic National Curriculum Framework in line with the NEP 2020 will play a major role in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat,” he added.

    The ministry has invited suggestions from the public through an online public consultation survey for the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework and subsequently design of syllabus, textbooks and other instructional materials.

    The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 was announced on July 29, 2020, which recommends quality improvement of the education system through the development of a National Curriculum Framework (NCF). 

    The process of the National Curriculum Framework has been started through the constitution of the District Consultation Committees, State Focus Groups, State Steering Committee, National Focus Groups and National Steering Committee etc.

    A tech platform – website and mobile app – has been developed to execute the work at scale and paperless. 

    Using the bottom-up approach, district-level consultations, mobile app-based surveys, and state-level consultations through State Focus Groups and State Steering Committee have been conducted by the states and Union Territories to reach out the stakeholders like parents, Anganwadi workers, teachers, teacher educators, students, etc. at the grassroots level and collect their views and opinion about the future of school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education.

    At the national level, the National Focus Groups and National Steering Committee have been engaged to deliberate on various issues and concerns, including the interaction with multiple ministries, autonomous bodies, NGOs, Corporates, Philanthropic agencies etc., for collecting and collating valuable inputs for formulation of NCF. 

    A mandate document for the formulation of NCF has been developed to guide the stakeholders in the process.

    All stakeholders, including teachers, headteachers/principals, school leaders, educationists, parents, students, community members, NGOs, experts, public representatives, artists, artisans, farmers and anybody who has an interest in school education and teacher education are invited to participate in this online survey being conducted in 23 languages, including the languages in the VIII Schedule of our Constitution.

    NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday urged people to participate in the citizen survey to prepare a curriculum for New India. 

    “Development of a vibrant,  dynamic, inclusive and futuristic National Curriculum Framework is essential for integrating cultural-rootedness along with global outlook, freeing education from a colonial hangover and instilling a deeper sense of pride in our next generations,” he said in a tweet.

    “I appeal to all citizens to participate in the Citizen Survey for NCF for developing #NayeBharatKaNayaCurriculum. A dynamic National Curriculum Framework in line with the NEP 2020 will play a major role in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat,” he added.

    The ministry has invited suggestions from the public through an online public consultation survey for the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework and subsequently design of syllabus, textbooks and other instructional materials.

    The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 was announced on July 29, 2020, which recommends quality improvement of the education system through the development of a National Curriculum Framework (NCF). 

    The process of the National Curriculum Framework has been started through the constitution of the District Consultation Committees, State Focus Groups, State Steering Committee, National Focus Groups and National Steering Committee etc.

    A tech platform – website and mobile app – has been developed to execute the work at scale and paperless. 

    Using the bottom-up approach, district-level consultations, mobile app-based surveys, and state-level consultations through State Focus Groups and State Steering Committee have been conducted by the states and Union Territories to reach out the stakeholders like parents, Anganwadi workers, teachers, teacher educators, students, etc. at the grassroots level and collect their views and opinion about the future of school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education.

    At the national level, the National Focus Groups and National Steering Committee have been engaged to deliberate on various issues and concerns, including the interaction with multiple ministries, autonomous bodies, NGOs, Corporates, Philanthropic agencies etc., for collecting and collating valuable inputs for formulation of NCF. 

    A mandate document for the formulation of NCF has been developed to guide the stakeholders in the process.

    All stakeholders, including teachers, headteachers/principals, school leaders, educationists, parents, students, community members, NGOs, experts, public representatives, artists, artisans, farmers and anybody who has an interest in school education and teacher education are invited to participate in this online survey being conducted in 23 languages, including the languages in the VIII Schedule of our Constitution.

  • No inputs from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Bengal on school curriculum: Centre 

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana and West Bengal are yet to send feedback on revising the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), the Centre said.

    The NCF will be the bedrock of the new NCERT syllabus, and the textbook authority has sought input from the states to include changes. 

    The Ministry of Education in a written reply in the Lok Sabha said all states had sent inputs, barring three southern governments and West Bengal. 

    This is the fifth revision of NCF, incorporating suggestions from a large number of expert groups nationally and smaller panels at the state level.

    The process is controversial as some BJP-ruled states have been charged with promoting saffronisation. The Karnataka government stands out as it was claimed that passages on Bhagat Singh were removed from the Kannada books. 

    The Centre claimed that the Karnataka government has clarified the chapter on the revolutionary freedom fighter has not been dropped.

    NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana and West Bengal are yet to send feedback on revising the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), the Centre said.

    The NCF will be the bedrock of the new NCERT syllabus, and the textbook authority has sought input from the states to include changes. 

    The Ministry of Education in a written reply in the Lok Sabha said all states had sent inputs, barring three southern governments and West Bengal. 

    This is the fifth revision of NCF, incorporating suggestions from a large number of expert groups nationally and smaller panels at the state level.

    The process is controversial as some BJP-ruled states have been charged with promoting saffronisation. The Karnataka government stands out as it was claimed that passages on Bhagat Singh were removed from the Kannada books. 

    The Centre claimed that the Karnataka government has clarified the chapter on the revolutionary freedom fighter has not been dropped.

  • Centre forms 12-member panel to suggest school curriculum revision across India

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday announced the constitution of a 12-member national steering committee under former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan for drafting a document, based on which school curriculum across India will be revised.

    Kasturirangan had earlier also headed the drafting committee of the National Education Policy, which was adopted by the government in 2020, after being refined.

    The committee’s other members include renowned mathematician Manjul Bhargava, Mahesh Chandra Pant, chancellor of the national Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and Jamia Milia Islamia University VC Najma Akhtar among others.

    The panel, formed for a period of 3 years, will prepare a National Curriculum Framework, which was last revised in 2005.

    The NCF lays down broad contours for school syllabus and textbooks.

    The Union education ministry said that as per the perspectives of the NEP 2020, the committee will develop four guiding documents—one each for school education, early childhood care and education, teachers’ education and adult education.

    The panel has also been asked to discuss the position papers finalised by the national focus groups on different aspects of all the above four area while also drawing inputs from state curriculum frameworks.

    Usually, the state education boards also follow the NCF in revising their respective school curriculum by involving the State Councils of Educational Research and Training which draw up the state curriculum frameworks.

    The government said that the national curriculum frameworks would also reflect upon the implications of situations such as the Covid-19 Pandemic on respective areas for the future.

    The panel, while convening its meetings, committee has been allowed to invite subject experts, scholars and educationists as and when required and deliberate and decide upon the course of actions with the objective to meet the timelines of the strategy for the development of the document.

    It will finalise the National Curriculum Frameworks after incorporating suggestions received from various stakeholders such as states and also in the meetings of the executive committee and the general body of the NCERT and Central Advisory Board on Education.