Page 38 - EducationWorld March 2023

Cover Story

NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOL EDUCATION
GREAT EXPECTATIONS

With a 13-member National Steering Committee headed
by Dr. K. Kasturirangan giving final touches to the NCFSE,
EW invited several eminent school leaders to share their
great and small expectations

Summiya Yasmeen

E IGHTEEN YEARS AFTER THE National — testimony to Dr. Kasturirangan’s commitment to detail

The new NCF is being presented in four installments
Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005
— the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational
was promulgated by the Congress-led
UPA government, a new NCF for 260
Stage (NCFFS); National Curriculum Framework for School
Education (NCFSE); National Curriculum Framework for
million school children growing and
learning in a fast-changing primary-
Framework for Adult Education (NCFAE). The last install-
secondary education system revolu-
tionised by new pedagogies and digi- Teacher Education (NCFTE) and National Curriculum
ment of NCF is expected to be completed by end 2023.
tal technologies, is in the final stages of completion. “After completion of the very important NCFFS late
A 13-member National Steering Committee headed by last year, NCFSE is being finalised. The main objectives
Dr. K. Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO and of NCFSE are to shift the focus of primary, secondary and
chairperson of the eponymous committee which prepared higher secondary education from rote to applied learning
the 484-page draft report on which the 66-page National and critical thinking, making teaching-learning multi-dis-
Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is based, is giving the final ciplinary and holistic, and providing direction for smooth
touches to the National Curriculum Framework for School transition of K-12 education from the 10+2 to the new
Education (NCFSE), the second installment of the new 5+3+3+4 schooling system recommended by NEP 2020.
NCF. NCFSE will be more than a curriculum framework, it will
The first installment — the 360-page National Curricu- also be a hands-on teacher’s manual for curriculum imple-
lum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCFFS) for chil- mentation in primary-secondary and higher secondary
dren in the three-eight age group — was formally launched classrooms,” says Dr. Chetan Singai, Chief Consultant,
on October 20 last year. NCFFS was widely welcomed Technical Secretariat of the Union education ministry,
by early childhood education experts for unambiguously which is overseeing the NCF formulation process. An alum
prescribing early childhood care and education (ECCE) of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Dr. Singai is also
through play, conversation, stories, toys, music, art and associate professor at the School of Social Sciences of Ra-
crafts. maiah University, Bengaluru.

40 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2023