The Education Ministry released a "pre-draft" of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education and solicited feedback from stakeholders including students, parents, teachers, and researchers.
"This is a pre-draft of the NCF-SE that will need to go through several rounds of discussion within the National Steering Committee." "Feedback from diverse stakeholders will help NSC look critically into the different modalities and approaches proposed by this framework," the ministry said in a statement.
Given the unique demands of children, multiple pedagogic techniques, and learning-teaching material at various stages of school education, it stated that feedback from students, parents, teachers, teacher educators, experts, scholars, and professionals is required.
According to ministry sources, the new NCF textbooks will be introduced next year.
The Education Ministry has created four National Curriculum Frameworks (NCFs) based on the NEP 2020-recommended 5+3+3+4 'curricular and pedagogical' structure for school education.
In October 2022, the ministry launched the NCF for the foundational stage (NCF-FS) for children aged 3 to 8 years. The new NCF for school education is being prepared in accordance with that policy.
The pre-draft recommends revising class 10 and 12 board exams, aligning the shift from 10+2 to 5+3+3+4 structure, and emphasising developmental perspectives by suggesting curricular and pedagogical shifts at different stages — foundational, preparatory, middle, and secondary.
The NCF has been amended four times: once in 1975, once in 1988, once in 2000, and once in 2005. The suggested adjustment will constitute one-fifth of the framework. A group led by former ISRO Chief K Kasturirangan created the pre-draft.
