Draft National Curriculum Framework for school education

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Background-  The Indian Express

• As a follow-up of the NEP 2020, development of four National Curriculum Frameworks, viz., NCF for School Education, NCF for Early Childhood Care and Education, NCF for Teacher Education and NCF for Adult Education has been initiated. 
• National Steering Committee under the Chairpersonship of Dr. K. Kasturirangan was set up by the Ministry of Education to undertake and guide the development of NCFs.

About the framework-

• 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 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. 

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.

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