It was decided that all ministries would send written inputs for the National Steering Committee and NCERT. The ministries were also requested to whole-heartedly participate in and disseminate the web-app based citizen survey being undertaken by NCERT.
Officials of the ministry of education today met held a meeting with senior officials and representatives of all ministries and government departments, including NCERT, the election commission, ICAR and DRDO to take forward the process of widespread consultation for the development of the new national curriculum framework (NCF) arising out of the new education policy.
The meeting focused on how ministries and organisations can contribute in developing a curriculum framework that is responsive and relevant to the developmental needs and interests of learners at different stages of their development.
Officials were given a glimpse of the process of preparing a curriculum framework and the expected deliverables and discussed areas of contribution, such as the rapidly changing technology, need for innovation and generation of new ideas, need to focus on crucial areas like climate change, future skill requirements and crucial factors for agricultural growth.
Another set of areas pertained to the knowledge of India, especially in areas where India is at the forefront. This, officials said, was to instil a sense of pride. Assistive technology for inclusion, enriching subject knowledge with real-life information, promoting multilingualism, integration of sports, fitness and arts too figure among the priorities set out for the development of the national curriculum framework.
The inputs from ministries would help in identifying and integrating several pertinent areas, skills and competencies in the NCF at relevant stages. It was also discussed that it would be very helpful if the ministries also point out their own role in taking certain ideas forward by partnering with school education ecosystem.
Key deliverables
Among its key deliverables, NCF has enlisted early childhood care and education, foundational literacy and numeracy, competency based education, flexibility in choice of subjects in secondary classes, reduction of curriculum to core essentials, reimagining vocational education, identification of core skills and content, inclusive education, multilingualism.
Again, integrating knowledge of India, citizenship, values like-appreciation of national heritage, respect for public property, care for elders and a spirit of service too are listed among the deliverables. The NCF will also emphasise on the needs of gifted children, experiential learning, integration of arts and craft, toys, health and well-being, sports and physical education guidance and counselling, community involvement etc.
Participants shared their ideas on how they would be able to contribute to the process. Ideas such as leveraging the innovation ecosystem of the department of science and technology, understanding the efforts that go into agriculture to bring food on the table, the huge role of gram panchayats in ensuring enrolment and retention in schools, the importance of imbibing volunteerism in early years, the need for every child to participate in activities related to physical health and well-being, focus on Divyang children, exposure to new technology from a young age, etc. were discussed.
It was decided that all ministries would soon send written inputs for the National Steering Committee and NCERT. The ministries were also requested to whole-heartedly participate in and disseminate the web-app based citizen survey being undertaken by NCERT.
