New Delhi: From recommending not using textbooks to teaching 3 to 6 year olds to including board games and stories Panchatantra (A Compendium of Indian Fables and Folktales) In lessons for children aged 6-8, the education ministry on Thursday suggested several changes in the school curriculum for this age group.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan released the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for Foundational Stage (3 to 8 year olds). It has been developed by a committee of experts headed by former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan, who was also the brains behind the new one. national education policy (NEP) released in 2020.
The 360-page document has received a mixed response from academics, who think “it is very scientifically designed, but challenging to implement”.
According to the document, “in the first three years of the basic stage, for children ages 3 to 6, there should be no prescribed textbooks”. It further says that simple worksheets are more than enough to meet the curriculum goals of students in this age group.
It also stresses that “special care should be taken to avoid promoting stereotypes such as, treating owls and snakes as evil, or fearing dark-skinned people, or that the mother always handles the kitchen”. .
The document suggests ways in which an interactive curriculum can be developed for children at different levels using storytelling techniques and real-life experiences. “In the last two years [foundational] Stage – For ages 6 to 8, simple and engaging textbooks can be considered. Textbooks for this stage should not only contain material for classroom instruction but also act as a workbook to give children opportunities to work on their own and as a record of their work.
It further states that the concepts formed in the foundational stage are “largely comprehensible and practical but not theoretical”, therefore, the material chosen “must be sensory appealing”.
The document states that the content should activate the child’s senses and have an aesthetic appeal or be practically relevant in the context of the child’s experiences. It states that content should also be drawn from children’s life experiences and reflect the cultural, geographic and social context in which they are developing and growing up.
For example, it suggests teaching them stories PanchatantraAnd learning maths by playing dice, among other things.
Experts worried about implementation
Amita Mulla Wattal, chairperson and executive director of education (innovation and training) at DLF Foundation Schools, told ThePrint that the document is “very scientifically designed” and “contains key elements for the foundational years”, But “implementing it” would be a challenge”.
“The teachers need to be trained properly before the document is implemented properly. We will need to train teachers for at least 3-5 years before we see change,” she said.
Wattal further said that things like not using textbooks and teaching only with the help of workbooks and pamphlets is something that teachers in Indian schools have not done before, and they need to be trained for this.
Garima Ahuja, a class 1 teacher in a government school in Haryana, said that whatever is mentioned in the document is already being implemented in the school where she teaches.
“We are already teaching students in storytelling and toy-based ways but we also use textbooks for children. It would be a little difficult to leave it completely,” she told ThePrint.
Another government school teacher, who did not wish to be named, said, “The scale of implementation is so big that we will have to spend a lot of time. We can’t expect things to change overnight… Teaching, learning has been happening in a certain way for a long time.”
how the content will be developed
content should be tied to Individual characteristics of children, the document says.
The document states that cooking, traveling, and folk songs, stories, festivals and rituals of a particular community or group are also worth learning and should be part of the curriculum.
“Since the goal of cognitive development is to learn about the surrounding world and to adapt to its environment; content should reflect themes and themes that will introduce children to the natural and human environment in which they are growing and developing. are, the social and physical worlds, people, places, living and non-living things,” it adds.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
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