NCF reopens debate on education policy

The pre-draft version of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF SE) was released recently by the Ministry of Education. Taking the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as its basis, the NCF addresses education strategies for the age group of 3 to 18 years across institutions in India. The 628-page framework has been prepared by the National Steering Committee under the chairpersonship of Dr K Kasturirangan, former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Serving as a guideline for developing the syllabi, textbooks and teaching practices in India, the document presents a four-stage (5+3+3+4) curricular and pedagogical restructuring of school education, a change from the 10+2 format. The document, which is open for public feedback, has been receiving mixed response from various stakeholders, including academicians, parents and teachers.

5+3+3+4

the four-stage restructuring will replace the 10+2 model

16

Essential courses to be cleared by Grade 10

3

The number of languages that will be learnt

Anita Rampal, former dean, Department of Education, Delhi University, finds a problem in the way the NCF has been designed. “The detailed document goes to the extent of indicating how a lesson has to be planned, how much time should be spent in the assembly, etc. Such elaboration of what a curriculum is and how it should be enacted is not the purpose of the NCF. Ours is a federal structure. The frameworks are meant to offer only broad guidelines, and it is for the states to develop their own curricula, based on their specific regional requirements. But, in this case, the whole process has been upturned. Most states will simply comply with the elaborately laidout guidelines, without changing much.”

It is an attempt to centralise education, which is not ideal for a diverse country like ours, says Vikram Dev Singh, state president of the Democratic Teachers Front, Punjab. “The NEP 2020, on which the NCF is based, is not a democratic policy because the suggestions sought from the education departments of various states during the draft release of NEP in 2019 were a mere formality. Due to Covid-19, all educational institutions were closed then and a proper feedback may not have been received. The policy was passed without any discussion. The NCF takes this NEP draft into consideration as well.”

Another concern that has evoked much debate is the change in the course format. To complete Grade 10, students will have to complete two essential courses from each of the eight curricular areas, a total of 16 essential courses across Grade 9 and 10. Besides humanities, mathematics and science, these would include subjects like vocational education, physical education, arts and social science.

According to Dr Pyare Lal Garg, former Registrar of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, “The present educational system has helped our country produce the best doctors, engineers, researchers, scientists and thinkers in the world. The multi-disciplinary education will not help in the development of the skillset required for specialised courses like medicine and engineering, which require a strong foundation. The emphasis on an alternate medicine system like ayurveda, which does not have a global recognition, will take away all the progress we have made so far. Subjects like social sciences can be added to professional courses but only for basic knowledge, and not as a serious discipline. The emphasis on using mother tongue for teaching too may not be practical.”

“The NCF seems to offer much choice and flexibility through a range of subjects, but these courses will not get the students anywhere beyond Class 10. Only a few students will get a chance to take admission in actual academic courses while the rest will be kept happy with mere paper degrees that will be useless,” says Professor Rampal.

Arguing that this is a much-needed change, former NCERT director JS Rajput says, “The NCERT is on the right path by merging vocational with the academic education. We have so many courses in the syllabi which lay unnecessary stress on children. This curriculum change will only affect the business of coaching institutes and education mafia.”

Educationists have also raised concerns over the NEP’s goal to transform higher educational institutions into large multi-disciplinary universities and colleges, ‘each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students’. “Our country has a diverse terrain and people live here in far-off places. Aiming for colleges with more than 3,000 students will make higher education unapproachable for students living in far-flung hilly, tribal, desert, coastal and forest areas,” says Garg.

Targeting 100 per cent enrolment by 2030, the NEP 2020 has put on record the increasing number of school dropouts, especially after Class 8. According to NEP 2020, the GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) for Grades 6-8 was 90.9 per cent, while for Grades 9-10 and 11-12, it was only 79.3 per cent and 56.5 per cent, respectively — indicating that a significant proportion of enrolled students drop out after Grade 8. As per the 75th round household survey by the NSSO in 2017-18, the number of out of school children in the age group of 6 to 17 years is 3.22 crore, the NEP states. “The dropout rate is quite high and very few students go for higher education. Making vocational education part of schooling will lead to most poor children opting for these courses. This will further deprive them of the chance to go for higher studies, worsening the rich-poor divide,” says Ashok Agarwal, president of the All India Parents Association.

Vikram Dev Singh points out that the NCF lays emphasis on the need to introduce students to our glorious past. “History needs to be taught in totality, including all its black spots. Recently, the NCERT rationalised textbooks and deleted many crucial topics of Indian history that are important to understand our social system. In the latest course books, topics like varna, caste system, untouchability, status of women in society have been tampered with while chapters on people’s movements like Dalit Panthers, Chipko Andolan, Narmada Bachao Andolan, besides Mughal history, have been removed. This indicates attempts at saffronisation of education.”

To this, Professor Rajput says that there’s much more to Indian culture beyond aberrations like Sati and caste system. “Even today, the Panchang cannot be challenged. We need to tell students about our traditional subjects. NCF is a faithful translation of NEP 2020 in all its aspects,” he adds.

Even as the feedbacks and debates over the NCF continue, a major curriculum change is imminent.

The key points of National Curriculum Framework

• Based on the vision of the National Education Policy 2020, the NCF is likely to be implemented by 2024. It divides schooling into four parts: Foundational Stage (3-8 years), Preparatory Stage (8-11 years), Middle Stage (11-14 years) and Secondary Stage (14-18 years).
• Besides structural changes that replace the 10+2 model, the framework lays emphasis on ancient Indian knowledge systems. It makes a provision for learning at least three languages, including a local language or mother tongue.
• It lays stress on an in-depth understanding of the Indian knowledge systems, including recognition of important mathematical contributions of the country as well as traditional medical practices like ayurveda and unani.
• The NCF has undergone four revisions in the past — in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005. The proposed revision, if implemented, would be the fifth iteration of the framework.

States are free to contextualise the NCF, says NCERT director

The NCF is a detailed document. How much authority do the states have in bringing about any changes in it?

Education is on the concurrent list, meaning both the Central and state governments have jurisdiction over it. States have the freedom to contextualise the NCF according to their needs, without compromising on curricular goals and cross-cutting issues. The NEP 2020 says that states can prepare their own curricula (which may be based on the NCF SE prepared by the NCERT to the extent possible) and textbooks (which may be based on the NCERT textbook materials to the extent possible), incorporating state-specific content as needed. However, the NCERT curriculum is considered the nationally acceptable criterion.

To what extent has the NCERT been involved in the NCF?

The NCERT is responsible for coordinating the entire process of developing the NCF, seeking inputs from states and UTs through consultations and surveys, as well as from different stakeholders such as various ministries, universities and civil society groups. Faculty members from the NCERT provide their inputs in various meetings related to NCF.

How and by when is the NCERT going to implement the NCF?

The implementation of the NCF is not solely the responsibility of NCERT. It will, however, play a leading role in implementing it, along with SCERTs under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and the National Steering Committee. It will initiate teacher training based on the NISHTHA model as soon as the NCF SE is released in its final form. The NCERT will also prepare syllabus and textbooks for the entire school stage. It will work in collaboration with the NCTE and the CBSE to implement the recommendations in the area of teacher education and assessment.

How equipped are the states in teaching subjects in the mother tongue? What kind of infrastructure is needed?

Schools will have to adopt different strategies, such as collecting teaching-learning material in various mother tongues, involving community volunteers, parents, creating a pool of teachers from nearby schools familiar with different mother tongues, and exploiting the potential of digital education. The necessary infrastructure will be determined by the schools according to their needs.

The draft says we need to teach students about our glorious past. What about the uncomfortable truths from history like varna, caste system, besides some parts which have already been removed from textbooks?

In history, the periods are clearly defined and curriculum takes care of ancient, medieval, and modern periods. Each period will have its specific elements, which will be included in curriculum in age-appropriate manner. Moreover, textbooks are not the sole resource of learning. NEP 2020 focuses on experiential learning which includes group discussions, field visits, debates, learning through digital modes, etc.

In a multi-disciplinary pattern, how will students develop skillsets for professional streams like medicine or engineering?

The perspective of providing “flexibility” in the policy intends for students to learn both the breadth and depth of the areas they select, rather than limiting themselves to specific streams. While engaging in disciplines, students will receive greater attention to their personal and career aspirations as they prepare for higher education or work. The curricular goals and competencies approach provides scope for students to develop their prerequisite skills for pursuing professional courses, such as medicine, engineering, architecture, etc, in the future, by selecting subjects of their own choice for undertaking specific careers.