NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAME WORK
History
Until 1976, Indian constitution allowed the state governments to take decisions on all matters pertaining to school education including curriculum. The centre could only provide guidance to the states on policy issues. It was under such circumstances that the initial attempts of National Education Policy of 1968 and the Curriculum Framework designed by NCERT in 1975 were formulated. NCERT developed NCF in 1975 following the recommendations of Education Policy on 1968. In 1976, the constitution was amended to include education in the concurrent list, and for the first time in 1986 the country as a whole had a National Policy on Education (NPE-1986) which envisions National Curriculum Framework as a means of modernising education.
Development of NCF 2005
The National Curriculum Framework begins with a quotation from one of Tagore’s essays – ‘Civilization and Progress’ – where the poet reminds us that ‘generous joy’ and ‘creative spirit’ are essential in childhood. However, an unthinking adult world can distort both the elements.
*Under the Chairmanship of Professor Yashpal, the National Steering Committee was established
*After much discussion, it was passed in the Central Advisory Board of Education on September 2005
*The national education policy emphasized on employing educational technology to enhance the quality of education
*The policy led to two centrally sponsored schemes – computer literacy and educational technology
*NCF addresses four issues – educational experience, educational purpose, assessing the learner, and an organization of experience
*While the previous NCFs are based on Behaviourist Psychology, the 2005 curriculum has its basis on Constructivist theory
*The latest NCF owes its present form and shape to the swirl of ideas generated through a string of intensive deliberations by renowned scholars from various disciples – parents, teachers, principals, and the NCERT faculty
In India, NCERT develops National Curriculum Framework which provides guidelines for developing syllabi and textbooks and school curriculum. NCF-2005 prepared by NCERT discusses a wide range of issues concerning school education.National Curriculum Framework 2005 is one of the four National Curriculum Frameworks published in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005 by the National Council of Educational Research and Training NCERT in India.
The Framework provides the framework for making syllabi, textbooks and teaching practices within the school education programmes in India. The NCF 2005 ]document draws its policy basis from earlier government reports on education as Learning Without Burden and National Policy of Education 1986-1992] and focus group discussion. After wide ranging deliberations 21 National Focus Group Position Papers have been developed under the aegis of NCF-2005. The state of art position papers provided inputs for formulation of NCF-2005. The document and its offshoot textbooks have come under different forms of reviews in the press.
NCF draft document came under the criticism from the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE). The approach and recommendations of NCF-2005 are for the entire educational system. A number of its recommendations, for example, focus on rural schools. The syllabus and textbooks based on it are being used by all the CBSE schools, but NCF-based material is also being used in many State schools.
NCF 2005 has been translated into 22 languages and has influenced the syllabi in 17 States. The NCERT gave a grant of Rs.10 lakh to each State to promote NCF in the language of the State and to compare its current syllabus with the syllabus proposed, so that a plan for future reforms could be made. Several States have taken up this challenge. This exercise is being carried out with the involvement of State Councils for Educational Research and Training [SCERT] and District Institutes of Education and Training [DIET].
The main objective of NCF 2005 are
Education of girl child .
Early childhood education.
Implementation of the national curriculum framework.
Vocational education.
Improvement in teacher education.
Improvement of thought of students.
Competitive value of education.
The importance of elementary education according to NCF is to bringing about various changes in the education system such as:
Develops a multidisciplinary curriculum
Provide learner autonomy
The teacher plays the role of a facilitator
Supports and encourages learning
Involves the active participation of learners
Continuous appraisal in the educational system
Salient Features of NCF 2005
The five basic principles of National Curriculum Framework 2005 are
Connecting knowledge to life outside school
Ensuring that students do not just learn mechanically, without thinking
Enriching the curriculum so that it goes beyond textbooks
Integrating exams with classroom life to make them more flexible
Nurturing an identity of prime importance informed by caring concerns within the country’s democratic polity
NCF primarily focused on
Learning without any pressure so that learning turns into a joyful experience, moved away from textbooks as a basis for examination, and reduces stress – it suggested significant changes in the pattern of the syllabus.
To form a sense of self-reliance and individual dignity, which would be the basis of social relations and develop a sense of unity and non-violence across society
To come up with a child-centered approach to learning, promote universal enrolment and retention up to age 14
To instill the feeling of unity, democracy, and oneness in students. P. Naik has described quality, quantity, and equality as the three pillars of the education system in India
With reference to social context, the recently published curriculum ensures that all schools are provided with a standard framework irrespective of sex, religion, creed, and caste.
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