The National Curriculum Framework 2005 outlines guidelines for developing school curriculums and teaching practices in India. It aims to shift learning away from rote memorization towards more experiential and holistic methods. Key principles include connecting education to real life, ensuring overall student development, and nurturing democratic values. The framework advocates for child-centered and inquiry-based pedagogies, flexibility to respect diverse backgrounds, and continuous comprehensive assessment over high-stakes testing. It also provides subject-specific recommendations, such as using multilingual approaches in language education and emphasizing conceptual understanding over facts in social sciences.

1. NATIONAL CURRICULUM
FRAMEWORK
2005

2. WHAT IS NCF?
• A framework for developing syllabi, textbooks and teaching practices
within the school education programs in India.
• Main issues focused are educational purpose, educational experience,
organization of experience and assessing learner.
• Difference between Curriculum and Syllabus.

3. WHY NCF?
• Yash Pal committee, Learning Without Burden learning has become a
source of burden and stress on children and their parents.
• Considering these problems, Executive committee of NCERT decided
to revise the curriculum across all the schools in India.

4. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
• Connecting knowledge to life outside the schools.
• Ensuring learning shifts away from rote learning methods.
(experiential learning)
• Enriching curriculum to provide overall development of a student
rather than textbook centric.
• Nurturing democratic values enshrined in our constitution.
(Equality, social justice, gender and caste etc)

5. • Universal Elementary Education
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA): Aims to ensure five years of primary
education for all in the age group of 6-14 by 2007 and eight years of
schooling by 2010.
• Respect the diversity in the socio-economic backgrounds including
children’s native wisdom and knowledge.

6. LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE
• Primacy of Active learner – ‘Child-centered’ Pedagogy
• Learners in Context
Finding their voices, nurturing curiosity, pursuing investigation,
sharing and integrating their knowledge.
• Holistic approach to learning and development.(eg:living and non-
living things)
• Introduction of Common School System
• Inclusive environment with flexible curriculum.
• Constructive learning – Intelligent Guessing
• In the name of Objectivity, flexibility and creativity is compromised.
• Questions based learning.

7. • Using Play-way methods and activities, dilution of learning by giving
things which are below their capability.
• Involving local communities
• Many schools have first generation school goers. Pedagogy must be
reoriented when the child’s home provides any direct support for
formal education.

8. CURRICULAR AREAS,SCHOOL STAGES AND ASSESSMENT
LANGUAGE:
• Importance of Home language or Mother tongue.
• Multi lingual characteristic of Indian society poses complex challenges
as well as range of opportunities.
• 3 language Formula
• Including Tribal languages in the curriculum.
• Constitution states that a child should be provided with adequate
facilities for instruction in mother-tongue in the primary stage of his
education.
• Sanskrit – Modern Indian Language.

9. MATHEMATICS:
• A feeling of Fear and failure
• Ability to think logically, formulate and handle abstractions.
COMPUTER SCIENCE:
• Technology use in domains of education in the fast changing world.
• Challenges at Indian schools in attaining this.

10. SCIENCE:
Basic criteria of validity of science curriculum
• Cognitive – age appropriate and within cognitive reach of children
• Content – must convey significant and scientifically correct content
• Process – engaging learner in acquiring the methods and processes
• Historical – be informed by a historical perspective(Newton’s law)
• Environmental – considering environmental issues like pollution etc.
• Ethical - promoting the values of honesty, objectivity, concern for
others etc.
At the primary stage, Science and Social science as ‘Environmental
Sciences’, with health as an important component.

11. SOCIAL SCIENCES:
• Focus on conceptual understanding rather than line up of facts to be
memorized for examinations.
• Critical reflection on social issues like poverty, child labor, illiteracy
and caste and class inequalities etc.
• Interdisciplinary approaches to promote key national concerns like
gender issues, social justice, humanitarian rights and sensitivity to
marginalized groups.
• Civics should be recast as political science.

12. WORK:
• From pre-primary stage to senior secondary stage, a pedagogy of
work centric education.(Eg: Montessori system)
• In order to acquire knowledge, develop values and multiple skills.
ART:
• Folk and classical forms of art and heritage facts should be introduced
as integral components.
• At every stage, art should be a subject.

13. PEACE:
• Peace oriented values
• Peace education in teacher education.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION:
• For overall development improving fine and gross motor skills and
coordination in team games.
• Include Yoga
HABITAT LEARNING:
• Environment education in the form of issues and concerns.

14. ASSESSMENT:
• Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
• Primary stage, purely qualitative judgement and no test or
examination instead assessment based on observations through
everyday activities.
• Formative and Summative Assessments
• Term-end assessment weightage should be decreased.
• Use of Open-ended questions and Open-book examinations
• Progress Reports