Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will release a “mandate document” listing the development process, structure and objectives of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) on Friday, officials said. The National Education Policy 2020 recommended the development of NCF in four areas — school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education.

For providing inputs for the development of these curriculum frameworks, 25 themes based on the perspectives of the NEP are identified under three categories. These are curriculum and pedagogy, cross-cutting issues, and other important areas of NEP focussing on systemic changes and reforms.

“The Mandate Document describes the development process of the NCF, its expected structure and objectives, and some of the basic principles from the NEP 2020 that will inform the development of the four NCFs. “The NCF is being drafted through a collaborative and consultative process, starting from district to state levels and then national level,” a senior official in the ministry said.

The ‘Guidelines for Position Papers for the Development of the National Curriculum Framework’ is an integral part of this Mandate Document, the official said. “The entire process of curriculum framework is being done in a paperless manner with very wide consultation at school, district and state levels with the help of a tech platform and mobile app,” the official added.

The NCF has been revised four times so far — in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005. The proposed revision will be the fifth of the framework. The revision of the curriculum framework will be in sync with the implementation of the examination reforms such as a uniform assessment and evaluation system under the proposed National Assessment Centre as proposed by the NEP.

“Questions such as what are the ways to implement home language as the medium of instruction, what challenges were faced in organising online education during Covid, which subjects should be added in social sciences to widen the choice of subjects for greater flexibility at the secondary stage will form the basis of the new NCF,” the official said. “The mandate and the guidelines, the consultation and the reports will be based on a set of questions which will form the basis of the 25 positions papers to be finalised by the National Steering Committee headed by K Kasturirangan,” the official added.

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