School system in India may undergo a major restructuring with an expert committee appointed by the Union government recommending board examinations twice a year, a semester system for class 12, freedom to students to pursue a mix of science, humanities and commerce subjects among others. On Thursday (April 6), the Ministry of Education released the pre-draft of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education for public feedback on the recommendations which will be finalised after further rounds of discussions involving the national steering committee led by former ISRO chairperson K Kasturirangan that developed it. What is NCF? The NCF, which was last revised in 2005 under the Congress-led UPA government, is a key document based on which textbooks are prepared. So the current set of NCERT textbooks, barring the deletions, are all based on the NCF 2005. Before 2005, the NCF was revised thrice, including once under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Under the latest round of revision, which is underway since September 2021, draft frameworks on early childhood care and education and school education have already been prepared, while work on teacher and adult education is underway. Apart from textbooks, the NCF, after its adoption by the CBSE and other state boards, will also restructure various other aspects of the classroom, including choice of subjects, pattern of teaching, and assessment. The other members of the 12-member steering committee shaping it include Fields Medal recipient Manjul Bhargava, author of ‘The Lost River: On The Trail of Saraswati’ Michel Danino, Jamia Millia Islamia University Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar and Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh Vice-Chancellor T V Kattimani. What are the proposed changes in design of subjects and exams at secondary stage? Among the most significant recommendations in the draft NCF on school education are about choice of subjects and exams in classes IX-XII. Over two years, in class IX and X, the students will have to study 16 courses categorised under eight curricular areas. The suggested curricular areas are Humanities (that includes languages), Mathematics & Computing, Vocational Education, Physical Education, Arts, Social Science, Science, and Inter-disciplinary Areas. Students will have to clear eight board exams, each of which will assess their hold on courses they learnt in class IX and X, to obtain the final certification which will factor in their performances in exams held over two years. Under the current system, there are no such links between class IX and X and students across most boards have to pass at least five subjects to clear class X. The committee has recommended more changes at the level of Class XI and XII, including the introduction of a semester system in class XII. In terms of subjects, students will be given a choice to pick 16 courses from eight curricular areas. Currently, in Class 12, CBSE students appear for the board exam in at least five subjects and a maximum of six and there is little scope for them to pursue multidisciplinary education. In other words, a student who has picked a combination of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry cannot simultaneously study History or Political Science. But under the proposed system, that will be possible as the NEP envisages “no hard separation” among arts, humanities, and sciences. "Modular Board Examinations will be offered as opposed to a single examination at the end of the year. The final certification will be based on the cumulative result of each of the examinations," states the pre draft NCF. How will teaching-learning change for younger students if the recommendations are implemented? At the foundational level, for children aged 3-8 enrolled in grades between preschool and class II, the pedagogical approach suggested is play based. It adds that textbooks are to be used from Grade 1 and most of the content should be concrete materials – toys, puzzles, and manipulatives. "Along with these materials, learning experience organized through physical exploration of the classroom and outdoor space becomes the most appropriate content," it states. For grades III, IV,V or the preparatory stage, children are to be introduced to textbooks on languages, mathematics, while also retaining the activity and discovery-based approach. And in the middle stage (class VI, VII, VIII), natural as well as social sciences will be introduced, "The textbooks need to play a central role in mediating the content in the Middle Stage. Both the expansion of curricular areas and the engagement with abstract ideas and unfamiliar contexts could be challenging and bewildering for students. Well-designed textbooks with clear expectations and specific learning goals would support students in entering these forms of understanding in a structured and systematic manner," according to the NCF. What are the proposed changes in specific subjects like Social Science, Maths and others? The NCF pre-draft on school education is not so much about specific changes in textbooks as those details will be put out in the position papers being developed by the 12-member steering committee and sub-committees of experts under it known as focus groups. However, it carries certain observations and suggestions. For instance, it says that stressing on a lone piece of evidence, instead of exposing children to multiple contrasting pieces of evidence, throws up a "lopsided or inadequate picture" of a topic in social science textbooks. On maths, it says that many students have developed a "real fear" of the subject in the current system. Methods of assessment in maths have also encouraged rote learning and promoted the perception of maths as "mechanical computation", it says. The solution, the committee says, is a shift towards play, activity, discovery and discussion-based learning. When will these changes come into effect? The government recently announced that textbooks based on the revised NCF will be taught in schools starting from the 2024-25 academic session. But a specific timeline on the implementation of the changes on exams, assessment and subject design has not been made available yet. In a statement on Thursday, the Education Ministry said that the pre-draft of the NCF "still requires several rounds of discussion within the National Steering Committee." For receiving feedback, the email address - ncf.ncert@ciet.nic.in - has been issued.
