The first ever integrated Curriculum Framework for children between ages 3-8 in India, under the 5+3+3+4 ‘curricular and pedagogical’ structure’ as provided in the NEP 2020 was launched by the Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan on October 20 in New Delhi. This curriculum framework will be an integral part of the of the overall National Curriculum Framework for School Education, which is under development to replace NCF 2005, and will address the remaining three stages of the 5+3+3+4 structure, covering education for children up to the age of 18.
Speaking on the launch event, the minister said that the launch of this framework is a landmark day towards fulfilling objectives of NEP. “Developing the foundational framework was one of the most important and challenging aspect under NEP 2020, as it has a huge bearing on shaping the future of our country,” he added. The Minister urged NCERT to place this NCF in public domain, take it to SCERTs and to all stakeholders involved in early childhood care and development. “This Foundational Stage framework will also guide the preparation of the Teachers for this Stage of education,” said K. Kasturirangan, the chairman of the NCF National Steering Committee who attended the event virtually.
This NCF aims to build a curriculum framework for the Foundational Stage that realizes the goals of NEP 2020, taking into account the extensive worldwide research on ECCE, leveraging the rich ECCE traditions of India, and building on the recent initiatives already launched such as NIPUN Bharat and Vidya Pradesh, in order to have an early childhood care and learning eco-system for all of India’s children. It emphasises the importance of ‘play’ at the core of the conceptual, operational, and transactional approaches to curriculum organization, pedagogy, time and content organization, and the overall experience of the child.
At the Foundational Stage, curriculum must be contextualised and rooted with content and pedagogy derived from children’s life experiences that reflect the familiar i.e., the cultural and social context in which the child is growing. This helps build deep connections with children and develop ownership of both Teachers and children of the curriculum.
This framework spread over 360-pages for foundational years encompasses all elements from Physical development and Socio-emotional and Ethical development to Cognitive development, Language and Literacy development, Aesthetic and Cultural development. It lays clear pathways for competencies and outcomes, teacher engagement, school environment, child safety and assessment.
(To be updated…)
