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A R N A B B H A T T A C H A R Y A
"THE STATUS OF THE TEACHER RELICTS THE SOCIO-CULTURAL ETHOS OF THE SOCIETY;
IT IS SAID THAT NO PEOPLE CAN RISE ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE TEACHERS.”
- NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION (NPE 1986)
 “THE DESTINY OF INDIA IS NOW BEING SHAPED IN HER CLASSROOMS”
-Education Commission (1964-66).
 “THE STATUS OF THE TEACHER REFLECTS THE SOCIO-CULTURAL ETHOS OF
THE SOCIETY, IT IS SAID THAT NO PEOPLE CAN RISE ABOVE THE LEVEL OF
ITS TEACHER” -National Policy on Education
(1986).
 The revised national curriculum framework (NCF) opens with a quotation from Rabindranath Tagore's
essay, civilisation and progress, in which the poet reminds us that a ‘creative spirit’ and ‘generous joy’
are key in childhood, both of which can be distorted by an unthinking adult world.
–NCF, 2005.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• THE NCF IS THE OF 4 CURRICULUM
FRAMEWORKS PUBLISHED IN
1975, 1988, 2000, 2005 BY NCERT*.
(NEP:1968, 1986, 1992, 2020)
• PROVIDES THE FRAMEWORK FOR MAKING SYLLABI,
TEXTBOOKS AND TEACHING PRACTICES WITHIN
SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAMMES IN INDIA.
*NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATIONAL RESERCH AND
TRAINING
 STATES DEVELOPED SCF (STATE
CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK) IN LINE
WITH NCF.
FORMATION OF NCF-2005
 UPA GOVT. TOOK OVER THE CENTRE (GOVT.) IN 2004 REPLACING NDA;
CLAIMED THAT THE SAFFRONISATION OF THE CURRICULUM 2000 WAS
HARMFUL TO SECULAR COUNTRY.
 THEREFORE, A NEW CURRICULUM SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTED.
 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY CONVENED THE
WORKING MEETING OF THE NCERT, RAN FROM 14TH JULY TO 19TH JULY,
2004.
 NEP, 1986 HAD THE STRESSED THE NEED FOR REVIEW AND
AMENDMENT TO THE CURRICULUM EVERY FIVE YEARS, TO MATCH THE
CHANGING WORLD. (e.g. ICT)
 AS PER DIRECTION OF HRD MINISTER, THE NCERT TOOK UP ASSIGNMENT OF
REVIEWING THE NCF FOR SCHOOL EDUCATION IN THE LIGHT OF THE REPORT
LEARNING WITHOUT BURDEN (1993).
 A NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF PROF.
SHRI YASH PAL FORMED 21 NATIONAL FOCUS GROUP (NFG).
 NFGs CHAIRED BY RENOWED SCHOLARS AND PRACTITIONERS.
 APPROVED BY CABE IN Sept, 2005; PUBLISHED AT DEC, 2005.
 NCF 2005 HAS BEEN TRANSLATED INTO 22 LANGUAGES AND HAS INFLUENCED
THE SYLLABUS IN 17 STATES.
 THE NCERT PROVIDED A GRANT OF RS.10,00,000 TO ALL STATES TO PROMOTE
NCF IN THEIR LOCAL LANGUAGE AND TO COMPARE ITS CURRENT SYLLABUS
WITH THE SYLLABUS PROPOSED.
 THIS EXERCISE IS BEING EXECUTED WITH THE SUPPORT OF STATE
COUNCILS FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING (SCERT) AND
DISTRICT INSTITUTES OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING (DIET).
 THIS FRAMEWORK PRESENTS A COMPLETE OUTLINE FOR CLASSES
RIGHT FROM 1 TO 12; EARLIER NCF WAS BASED ON BEHAVIOURALISM
PSYCHOLOGY BUT NCF 2005 BASED ON CONSTRUCTIVISM.
 ITS DRAFT DOCUMENT WAS CRITICIZED BY THE CENTRAL ADVISORY
BOARD OF EDUCATION (CABE) IN FEB, 2008; KRISHNA KUMAR, THEN THE
DIRECTOR OF NCERT, ALSO DISCUSSED THE CHALLENGES FACED BY
THE DOCUMENT.
 THE SYLLABUS AND TEXTBOOKS BASED ON IT ARE BEING USED BY ALL
THE CBSE SCHOOLS AND MULTIPLE STATE SCHOOLS.
CONTENT
NCF-
2005
PERSPEC
TIVE:
GUIDING
PRINCIPL
ES
LEARNIN
G &
KNOWLE
DGE
CURRICULAR
AREA
SCHOOL
&
CLASSRO
OM
SYSTEMA
TIC
REFORM
VISION AND PERSPECTIVE
 TO UPHOLD VALUES ENSHRINED IN THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.
 TO REDUCE OF CURRICULUM LOAD.
 TO ENSURE QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL.
 TO INITIATE CERTAIN SYSTEMIC CHANGES.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
 CONNECTING KNOWLEDGE TO LIFE OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL.
 ENSURING THAT LEARNING IS SHIFTED AWAY FROM ROTE METHODS.
 ENRICHING CURRICULUM SO THAT IT GOES BEYOND TEXT BOOK.
 MAKING EXAMINATION MORE FLEXIBLE AND NON-THREATENING.
 DISCUSS THE AIMS OF EDUCATION.
 BUILDING COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRATIC VALUES OF EQUALITY, JUSTICE,
SECULARISM AND FREEDOM.
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Strengthening a national system of education in a pluralistic society.
 Reducing the curriculum load based on insights provided in ‘learning without burden’.
 Systemic changes in tune with curricular reforms.
 Curricular practices based on the values enshrined in the constitution (social justice, and
equality and secularism).
 Ensuring quality education for all.
 Building a citizenry committed to democratic practices, values, sensitivity towards gender
justice, problems faced by the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes, needs of the
disabled, and capacities to participate in economic and political processes.
CHAPTE
R -1
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Reorientation in our perception of learners and learning.
 Holistic approach in the treatment of learners’ development and learning.
 Meeting learning disability needs through data based and need specific programmes.
 Learner engagement for construction of knowledge and fostering creativity.
 Active learning through experiential mode.
 Adequate room for voicing children’s thinking, curiosity and questions in curricular practices.
 Connecting knowledge across disciplinary boundaries to provide a broader frame for
insightful construction of knowledge.
CHAPTE
R -2
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Forms of learner engagement-observing, exploring, discovering, analysing, critical reflection,
etc.-are as important as the content of knowledge.
 Activities for developing critical perspectives on socio-cultural realities need to find space in
curricular practices.
 Local knowledge and children’s experiences are essential components of textbooks and
pedagogic practices.
 School years are a period of rapid development with changes and shifts in capabilities,
attitudes and interests that have implications for choosing and organising the content and
process of knowledge.
CHAPTE
R -2
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
LANGUAGE
 Language skills-speech and listening, reading and writing-cut across school subjects and
disciplines.
 A renewed effort should be made to implement the three language formula, emphasizing
recognition of children’s mother tongue(s) as the best medium of instruction. These
include tribal languages.
 Success in learning English is possible only if it builds on sound language pedagogy in the
mother tongue.
 The multilingual character of Indian society should be seen as a resource for enrichment
of school life.
CHAPTE
R -3
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
MATHEMATICS
 Mathematization (ability to think logically, formulate and handle abstractions) rather than
‘knowledge’ of mathematics(formals and mechanical procedures) is the main goal of teaching
mathematics.
 The teaching of mathematics should enhance the child’s ability to think and reason, to
visualize and handle abstractions, to formulate and solve problems.
 Access to quality mathematics education is the right of every child.
CHAPTE
R -3
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
SCIENCE
 Content, process and language of science teaching must be commensurate with learner’s age
range and cognitive reach.
 Science teaching should engage the learner in acquiring methods and processes that will
nurture their curiosity and creativity, particularly in relation to the environment.
 Science teaching should be placed in the wider context children’s environment to equip them
with the requisite knowledge and skills to enter the world of work.
 Awareness of environmental concerns must permeate the entire school curriculum.
CHAPTE
R -3
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
SOCIAL SCIENCES
 Social science teaching should aim at equipping children with moral and mental energy so as
to provide them the ability to think independently and reflect critically on social issues.
 Interdisciplinary approaches, promoting key national concerns such as gender justice, human
rights and sensitivity to marginalized groups and minorities.
 Civics should be recast as political science, and significance of history as a shaping influence
on the child’s conception of the past and civic identity should be recognized.
CHAPTE
R -3
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
WORK
 Work should be infused in all subjects from the primary stage upwards.
 Agencies and settings offering work opportunities outside the school be formally recognized.
 Design of Vocational Education and Training Programme is based on the perspective of 10-12 years of work-
centred education.
ART
 Arts (folk and classical forms of music and dance, visual arts, puppetry, clay work, theatre, etc.) and heritage
crafts should be recognised as integral components of the school curriculum
 Awareness of their relevance to personal, social, economic and aesthetic needs should be built among parents,
school authorities and administrators.
 The art should comprise a subject at every stage of school education.
CHAPTE
R -3
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
PEACE
 Peace-oriented values should be promoted in all subjects throughout school years with the
help of relevant activities.
 Peace education should form a component of teacher education.
 Health and physical education.
 Health and physical education are necessary for the overall development of learners.
Through health and physical education programmes (including yoga), it may be possible to
handle successfully the issues of enrolment, retention and completion of school.
CHAPTE
R -3
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Availability of minimum infrastructure and material facilities, and support for
planning a flexible daily schedule are critical for improved teacher performance.
 A school culture that nurtures children’s identities as learners’ enhances the
potential and interests of each child.
 Specific activities ensuring participation of all children-able and disabled- are
essential conditions for learning by all.
 The value of self discipline among learners through democratic functioning is as
relevant as ever.
CHAPTE
R -4
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Participation of community members in sharing knowledge and experience in a
subject area helps in forging a partnership between school and community.
 Reconceptualization of learning resources in terms of:
Textbooks focused on elaboration of concepts, activities, problems and exercises
and exercises encouraging reflective thinking and group work.
Supplementary books, workbooks, teachers’ handbooks etc. based on fresh thinking
on fresh thinking and new perspectives.
 Multimedia and ICT as sources for two way interaction rather than one way
reception.
CHAPTE
R -4
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Decentralised planning of
school calendar and daily
schedule and autonomy for
teacher professionalism
practices are basic to creating
a learning environment.
CHAPTE
R -4
 School library as an intellectual space for teachers, learners and members of the community
to deepen their knowledge and connect with the wider world.
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Quality concern a key feature of systemic reform.
 A broad framework for planning upwards. (Identifying Focuses Areas, School-cluster,
Decentralised Planning Strategy at the District Level)
 Meaningful academic planning has to be done in a participatory manner by
Headmasters and teachers.
 Panchayat Raj system should be strengthened by evolving a mechanism to regulate
the functioning of parallel bodies at the village level so that democratic participation
in development can be realised.
CHAPTE
R -5
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Professional training of teachers can be strengthened by linking it to:
 Post-graduate studies in different subjects.
 Provisions for integrated undergraduate studies in teacher education.
 Inclusion of a course on language proficiency as an integral component.
 Engaging the trained with the larger context of education, interacting with children in real contexts
and critically questioning their own beliefs about knowledge and learning, gender, caste, equity
and justice. (reflective learning)
 Shifting the focus from pure disciplinary knowledge to the learner and his/her context.
 In-service education needs to become a catalyst for change in school practices.
CHAPTE
R -5
SUMMARY OF NCF-2005
 Examination reforms to reduce psychological stress particularly on children in
class X and XII –
 Shift from content based testing to problem solving and competency based
assessment
 Examinations of shorter duration
 Flexible time limit
 Change in typology of questions
 No public examination till class VIII
 Class X board exam to be made optional (in long term)
CHAPTE
R -5
 Guidelines for Syllabus Development –
 Topics and Themes for relevant stages of children’s development.
 Continuity from one level to the next.
 Pervasive resonance of all the values enshrined in the constitution of India.
 Inter-disciplinary and thematic linkages between topics listed for different
school subjects & discrete disciplinary areas.
 Linkage between school knowledge and concern in all subjects & at all levels.
 Sensitivity to gender, caste, class, peace, health & children with special need.
 Integration of work related attitudes and values in every subject and all levels.
 Need to nurture aesthetic sensibility and values.
 Development of Support Material –

 Audio/video programmes on NCF-2005 and textbooks
 Source-book on learning assessment
 Exemplar problems in Science and Mathematics
 Science and Mathematics kits
 Teachers’ handbooks and manuals.
 Teacher Training Packages.
 Developed syllabi and textbooks in new areas such as Heritage Craft, Media Studies, Art
Education, Health and Physical Education, etc.
 Taken various initiatives in the area of ECCE (Early Childhood Care Education), Gender,
Inclusive Education, Peace, Vocational Education, Guidance and Counseling, ICT, etc.
OUTLINE FOR CLASSES : I – XII
CLASSES: I-V
• MOTHER TONGUE
• ENGLISH
• MATHEMATICS
• INTEGRATED ENV.STUDIES
• ART & CRAFT
• HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION
• WIRK EXPERIENCE
CLASSES: VI-VIII
• MOTHER TONGUE
• MODERN INDIAN LANGUAGE
• ENGLISH
• SCIENCE
• MATHEMATICS
• SOCIAL STUDY (HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, CIVICS & ECONOMICS)
• ART EDUCATION
• HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION
• WORK EXPERIENCE
OUTLINE FOR CLASSES : I – XII
CLASSES: IX-X
• MOTHER TONGUE
• SANSKRIT / URDU / OTHERS
• MATHEMATICS
• SCIENCE
• SOCIAL STUDY (HISTORY,
GEOGRAPHY, CIVICS & ECONOMICS)
• COMPUTER
• WORK EXPERIENCE
• PEACE EDUCATION
• ART EDUCATION
CLASSES: XI-XII
• MOTHER TONGUE
• ENGLISH
• MATHEMATICS
• COMPUTER
• PHYSICS
• CHEMISTRY
• BIOLOGY
OPTIONAL
FOR
SCIENCE
CATEGORY
• POL. SCIENCE
• GEOGRAPHY
• HISTORY
• ECONOMICS
• SOCIOLOGY
• PSYCHOLOGY
OPTIONAL
FOR ART
CATEGORY
• COMMERCE
• ACCOUNTANCY
OPTIONAL
FOR
COMMERCE
CATEGORY
• ART EDUCATION
• OTHER OPTIONAL SUBJECT
CRITICISM
1) STRESS OVER ENGLISH ALONG WITH MOTHER TONGUE FROM CLASS-I.
2) COMPUTER COURSE INCLUDED IN CLASSES IX-XII, WHEREAS IMPLEMENTATION
REQUIRE INFRASTRUCTURE, TRAINED TEACHERS.
3) THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN WHATEVER HAS BEEN SAID IN THE CONTEXT OF
TEACHING DIFFERENT SUBJECTS OF THE CURRICULUM, THE TEACHERS ARE
ALREADY IN THE KNOW OF IT.