Ministry of Education invites suggestions on Draft National Curriculum Framework for school education

New Delhi [India], April 6 : The Ministry of Education has invited suggestions on Draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education, informed the Ministry in a press release on Thursday.
"National Education Policy 2020 aims at transforming the whole education system in India comprising of school education and higher education. School Education works as the foundation stone of a child's life. In the context of school education, NEP 2020 recommends a shift from a 10+2 structure to a 5+3+3+4 and emphasises developmental perspectives suggesting curricular and pedagogical shifts at different stages- foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary. NEP 2020 focuses on competency-based education integrating cultural rootedness, equity and inclusion, multilingualism, experiential learning, reduction in content load, integration of arts and sports in the curriculum, etc," the Ministry stated in the release.
The Ministry stated that it had initiated the development of National Curriculum Frameworks, viz., NCF for School Education, NCF for Early Childhood Care and Education, NCF for Teacher Education and NCF for Adult Education as a follow-up of NEP 2020.
National Steering Committee under the Chairpersonship of Dr K Kasturirangan was set up to undertake and guide the development of NCFs, the release added.
As per the Ministry, going through a participatory process of deliberations, inputs were sought for the National Curriculum Frameworks (in the area of ECCE, School Education, Teacher Education and Adult Education) from diverse stakeholders including teachers, parents, students, educational institutions, neo- and non- literates, subject experts, scholars, childcare personnel etc.
Extensive public consultations in face-to-face, as well as digital mode, were carried out. In this process of deliberations and discussions, more than 500 District Level Consultations and more than 50 consultations with different Ministries, religious groups, civil society organisations, NGOs and Universities were held in face-to-face mode with the participation of more than 8000 diverse stakeholders, the Ministry said.
The Ministry has received feedback from around 1,50,000 stakeholders through the mobile app survey in digital mode. While, the Citizen-Centric Survey launched in August, last year has received inputs from more than 12,00,000 stakeholders.
"Inputs are being received in all areas of ECCE, School Education, Teacher Education and Adult Education. The highlights of the inputs revealed endorsement of the recommendations of NEP 2020 from all the regions," the Ministry added.
Taking into cognizance these inputs, the NCF for Foundational Stage had been brought out and launched by the Ministry of Education on October 20, 2022.
"In continuation of this NCF-FS, National Curriculum Framework for School Education - Pre-Draft is also ready. Given the diverse needs of students, multiple pedagogic approaches, and learning-teaching material at the different stages of school education, it is felt important to take feedback from students, parents, teachers, teacher educators, experts, scholars and professionals on the various sections and recommendations of this NCF-School Education (SE)," the Ministry further said.
The Ministry also added in the release that this is a pre-draft of the NCF-SE which still requires several rounds of discussion within the National Steering Committee. Feedback from diverse stakeholders will further help NSC to look critically into different modalities and approaches that this framework is proposing.
Feedback is solicited specifying the stage of school education, curricular area, school governance, assessment, etc, the release added.