Edu Minister releases Mandate Document for development of National Curriculum Framework

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday released the ‘Mandate Document Guidelines for the development of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF)’ at a function held at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Dr. K. Kasturirangan, chairperson, National Steering Committee for the National Curriculum Framework,  Dr. Ashwathnarayan C. N minister for higher education, government of Karnataka, Dr. BC Nagesh, minister  for primary and secondary education, government of Karnataka,  Anita Karwal, secretary, department of school education and literacy, ministry of education, government of India, and Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, director, national council of educational research and training (NCERT) were present on the occasion.

" National Education Policy 2020 is the ‘philosophy’, the national curriculum framework is the ‘pathway’ and the mandate document released today is the ‘constitution’ to champion the changing demands of the 21st century and positively impact the future. The mandate document will bring about a paradigm shift with focus on holistic development of children, emphasis on skilling, vital role of teachers, learning in mother tongue, cultural rootedness. It is also a step towards decolonization of the Indian education system," the education minister said.

The education minister also suggested creating an app-based process to enable suggestions for the NCF from every citizen of our country. Central to the implementations of the transformative National Education Policy 2020 is the new national curriculum framework (NCF) which will empower and enable outstanding teaching and learning in the country, by converting the vision of the NEP 2020 into reality in our schools and classrooms. the development of the NCF is being guided by the national steering committee (NSC), chaired by Dr. K Kasturirangan, supported by the mandate group, along with the national council for education research and training (NCERT). The NCF includes the national curriculum framework for school education (NCFSE), the national curriculum framework for early childhood care & education (NCFECCE), the national curriculum framework for teacher education (NCFTE), and the national curriculum framework for adult education (NCFAE).

About the Mandate Document

The ‘mandate document’ guides the development of the NCF. the mandate document is the bridge between the nep 2020 and the ncf. some of the important characteristics of the national curriculum framework, as envisioned in the mandate document to achieve these goals are:

• It delineates the process of the development and the characteristics of the NCF
• It provides clear and specific anchors for the NCF to the vision, principles, and approach of NEP 2020
• It sets the mechanisms for the development of a coherent and comprehensive ncf, fully leveraging the widespread consultations already under way
• The process designed ensures the seamless integration imagined - vertically (across stages) and horizontally (across subjects in the same stage) in the nep 2020 – to ensure holistic, integrated, and multi-disciplinary education
• It enables the critical linkage between the curriculum of schools with the curriculum of teacher education as an integral part of the transformative reforms envisioned by the NEP 2020 in the overall teacher education sector, thus  enabling rigorous preparation, continuous professional development, and a positive working environment for all our teachers
• It informs the creation of opportunities for life-long learning for all citizens in the country directly ‘useable by’ and ‘relatable to’ the most important stakeholders in education - teachers, students, parents, and communities across the country – to enable and empower, change and improve the reality of education practice
• Anchored and informed by sound theory and cutting-edge research, yet using simple language with real-life illustrations from classrooms and schools in a variety of contexts
• Outlining a systematic path for step-by-step movement from current reality to the ideal to ensure real progress in education that touches the lives of all widespread national consultations with multiple stakeholders are taking place for the development of the National Curriculum Framework
• Teachers, school principals, anganwadi teachers, teacher educators, parents, community members, students, non-literates, neo literates, and education experts district-level consultations in every district of the country
• More than 700 state-level  expert groups in states and union territories across subjects and cross cutting themes 25 national-level expert groups including international experts
• The inputs being gathered are being analyzed rigorously, to draw the best, to be incorporated in the development of the ncfs by the steering committee, along with the mandate group, and the ncert.
• A robust and comprehensive mechanism adopted using technology including machine learning to collect and collate inputs from all stakeholders to make the entire process near-paperless.

In addition to these consultations, NCF will also fully account for other initiatives like nipun bharat, the national mission for foundational literacy and numeracy by the ministry of education, which are being implemented with the required urgency even as the ncf is being developed.