National Curriculum Framework (NCF)

 What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• What are the National Curriculum Frameworks (NCFs)?
• Pre-draft of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE)
• The Final Version of the NCFSE

Why in News?

• The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) was released by the Union Minister of Education recently.
  • The draft proposals were released for public feedback in April 2023.
• The final/revised version of the NCF mandates teaching of 3 languages (including 2 Indian languages) in classes 9-10, and 2 languages (including 1 Indian language) in class 11-12.

What are the National Curriculum Frameworks (NCFs)?

•  The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) aims to devise 4 NCFs, for which a comprehensive strategy has been worked out jointly by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and NCERT.
• The National Steering Committee under the chairmanship of (former ISRO chief) K. Kasturirangan was set up by the MoE to undertake and develop NCFs.
• These 4 NCFs are –
  • National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCFECCE)
  • National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE)
  • National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE)
  • National Curriculum Framework for Adult Education (NCFAE)
• NCFs aims to bring about a paradigm shift in education with focus on holistic development of children, emphasis on skilling, vital role of teachers, learning in mother tongue, cultural rootedness.
• The NCF has been revised four times in the past (in 1975, 1988, 2000, and 2005). If implemented, the suggested modification would be the 5th one.
• It’s important to note that the NEP 2020 and the NCFs, based on the education policy, are not binding on the states.

Pre-draft of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE):

• It covers the framework of curriculum for age groups 3 to 18 years.
• A key part of the document is inclusion of values and its “rootedness” in India.
  • This is in content and learning of languages, in the pedagogical approaches including tools and resources and in philosophical basis.
• It advocated the teaching of three languages (referred to as R1, R2 and R3) in classes 6, 7 and 8, and two languages in classes 9 and 10 (R1 and R2).
  • No guidelines were provided for language learning in classes 11 and 12.
  • R1 denoted the mother tongue or home language, R2 could be any other language (including English), and R3 was any language that wasn’t R1 or R2.
• The document leans towards making students acquainted with true sources of knowledge, which have been a philosophical preoccupation of ancient Indians.
  • These sources focus on six pramanas:
    • pratyaksa (perception through five senses),
    • anumana (using inferences to come to new conclusions),
    • upamana (knowing through analogy and comparison),
    • arthapatti (knowing through circumstantial implication),
    • anupalabdhi (perception of non-existence), and
    • sabda (something an individual can only directly know a fraction of all reality).
  • Moral development: Through panchakosha vikas or five-fold development. This concept is an ancient explanation of the importance of the body-mind link in human experience and understanding.
  • 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 interdisciplinary areas.
  • Grade 11 and 12:
    • Students will be offered choice-based courses in the same disciplines for more rigorous engagement.
    • Modular Board Exams will be offered as opposed to a single exam at the end of the year and final result will be based on cumulative result of each exam.
    • Immediate transition from annual to semester system in Class 12.

The Final Version of the NCFSE:

• Holding the Class 12 board exam twice a year: To ensure students have enough time and opportunity to perform well.
  • Students can appear for a board exam in subjects they have completed and feel ready for.
  • They will also be allowed to retain the best score.
• Mandatory and optional subjects:
  • So far, the students from Classes 9 to 12 studied five mandatory subjects, with an option of adding one more subject.
  • Now, the number of mandatory subjects for Classes 9 and 10 is seven, and it’s six for Classes 11 and 12.
  • Optional subjects have been grouped in three parts in the NCF.
    • The first optional group includes art education (both visual and performing arts), physical education and vocational education.
    • The 2nd group includes Social Science, the Humanities, and interdisciplinary areas.
    • The 3rd group includes Science, Mathematics, and computational thinking.
• Emphasis on Indian languages: It mandates the compulsory instruction of 3 languages (referred to as R1, R2 and R3) up to Class 10. At least 2 of these 3 languages must be native to India.
  • In classes 11 and 12, students will have to study two languages and one of them has to be an Indian language.
  • The final NCF makes the study of Indian languages imperative across schools and boards, contrary to the optional nature of these subjects at present.
• Offers flexibility:
  • It offers students the freedom to pursue a mix of science and humanities to reduce the rigid boundaries separating arts, commerce and science in Classes 11 and 12 across school boards.
  • It also offers freedom to all boards to change to semester or term-based systems in Class 12in the long term.
• For Classes 6 to 8:
  • The NCF states that:
    • 20% content would be from the local level for the Social Science curriculum,
    • 30% content would be from the regional level,
    • 30% would be from the national level, and
    • 20% content would be global.

‹ ›

Q1) What are the key objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020?

The NEP 2020 aims to provide a holistic and flexible learning experience to students by minimizing the school curriculum content and focusing on 21st-century skills such as analytical and critical thinking, experiential learning, and creativity.

Q2) What do you mean by Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)?

ECCE in the Indian context is generally defined as the care and education of children from birth to eight years. It includes: Early stimulation programmes through crèches/homes stimulation for 0–3-year-olds.

Source: 2 Indian languages for classes 9- 10, 1 for classes 11-12: NCF | TH