Key Education Ministry Panel to Develop New Curriculum for Schools.

Post Date: September 23, 2021

The Union Education Ministry on Tuesday constituted a (12-member) committee to develop new curricula for school, early childhood, teacher and adult education.
The panel will be headed by K. Kasturiranagan, who is chairman of the Drafting Committee of the National Policy on Education-2020. The panel that will develop the four National Curriculum Frameworks (NCFs) by K. Kasturiranagan. But, this will be the fifth NCF, which will come after a gap of 16 years and will be in line with the reforms outlined in the NEP. Mr. Kasturiranagan is also the former head of the ISRO-Indian Space Research Organisation.

The Committee Will Discuss “Position Papers” Finalised

As per the committee’s terms of reference, it will develop four NCFs for (i) school education, (ii) early childhood care and (iii) teacher education and (iv) adult education.
The NCF serves as a guideline for the curriculum, textbook and teaching practices for schools in India. The committee will discuss “STATUS PAPERS” finalized by national focus groups on various aspects of the 4 areas taking input from the state’s curriculum framework.

District Level Consultations Will Take Place

He said that while developing the NCF, the committee would also consider the impact of situations like CORONA-19.

The development of the new curriculum will not be a top-down exercise and before implementing the NCF, consultations will be held at the district level after the States and Union Territories come up with their own curriculum.

Top Five Decisions in NFC

Top Five Decisions:

1) The Committee may invite subject experts, scholars, academicians, etc., if necessary, and hold discussions while holding its meetings.
2) Decide on the course of action aimed at meeting the timeline of the strategy for the development of the NCF.
3) The committee will finalize the NCF after incorporating the suggestions received in the meetings of the Executive Committee and General Body of various stakeholders such as States, Union Territories and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
4) The Committee will also discuss the status papers finalized by the National Focus Groups on various aspects of all the above four areas. The panel will take inputs from the State Curriculum Framework received at the technical forum for NCF.
5) The tenure of the National Steering Committee will be 3 years. Director NCERT will assist the SCs to complete their modules. The terms of reference for the panel may be expanded as per the requirement.