National Curriculum Framework: A Critical Analysis

By Mikael L Chuaungo, PhD Research Scholar,M.A(Edu),B.ED, Mizoram University, India

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Introduction
The National Curriculum Framework is one of four National Curriculum Frameworks published
in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005 by the National Council of Educational Research and Training
NCERT in India. The document provides the framework for making syllabi, textbooks and
teaching practices within the school education programmes in India.
NCERT NCF 2005 has been translated into 22 languages and has influenced the syllabi in
17 states. The NCERT gave a grant to each State to promote NCF in the language of the State
and to compare its current syllabus with the syllabus proposed, so that a plan for reforms could
be made. Several States have taken up this challenge. This exercise is being carried out with the
involvement of State Councils for Educational Research and Training(SCERT) and District
Institutes of Education and Training (DIET).

The NCF 2005 Document is divided into 5 areas:

1. Perspective
2. Learning and Knowledge
3. Curriculum Areas
4. School Stages and Assessment.
5. School and Classroom Environment
6. Systemic Reforms

Key Features.
1. Disability, gender, SC/ST, early childhood care and education issues built into the entire
document
2. Substantial focus on teacher education, teacher support, (especially with regard to in
service area)
3. Developing the school ethos
4. Textbook preparation- how to keep it open? How to include local knowledge issues and
local crafts and arts. Can we have 4-5 different science textbooks and give the teachers a
choice to use one of them.
5. Understanding the extent of mobilizing local resources for teachers and children
A brief chapter wise summary of the NCF-2005
CHAPTER -1
 Strengthening a national system of education in a pluralistic society.
 Reducing the curriculum load based on insights provided in ‘Learning without Burden’.
 Systemic changes in tune with curricular reforms.
 Curricular practices based on the values enshrined in the constitution, such as social
justice, and equality and secularism.
 Ensuring quality education for all.
 Building a citizenry committed to democratic practices, values, sensitivity towards
gender justice, problems faced by the scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, needs
of the disabled, and capacities to participate in economic and political processes.

CHAPTER -2
 Reorientation in our perception of learners and learning.
 Holistic approach in the treatment of learners’ development and learning.
 Meeting learning disability needs through data based and need specific programmes.
 Learner engagement for construction of knowledge and fostering creativity.
 Active learning through experiential mode.
 Adequate room for voicing children's thinking, curiosity and questions in curricular
practices.
 Connecting knowledge across disciplinary boundaries to provide a broader frame for
insightful construction of knowledge.
 Forms of learner engagement-observing, exploring, discovering, analyzing, critical
reflection, etc.-are as important as the content of knowledge.
 Activities for developing critical perspectives on socio-cultural realities need to find
space in curricular practices.
 Local knowledge and children's experiences are essential components of textbooks and
pedagogic practices.
 School years are a period of rapid development with changes and shifts in capabilities,
attitudes and interests that have implications for choosing and organizing the content
and process of knowledge.

CHAPTER-3
Language:
A renewed effort should be made to implement the three language formula,
emphasizing recognition of children's mother tongue(s) as the best medium of
instruction.
Mathematics
Mathematization (ability to think logically, formulate and handle abstractions) rather
than ‘knowledge’ of mathematics (formulas and mechanical procedures) is the main
goal of teaching mathematics.
Science
Content, process and language of science teaching must be commensurate with
learner's age range and cognitive reach. Science teaching should engage the learner in
acquiring methods and processes that will nurture their curiosity and creativity,
particularly in relation to the environment.
Social Sciences:
Social science teaching should aim at equipping children with moral and mental energy
so as to provide them the ability to think independently and reflect critically on social
issues. Interdisciplinary approaches, promoting key national concerns such as gender
justice, human rights and sensitivity to marginalized groups and minorities.
Work:
Work should be infused in all subjects from the primary stage upwards. Agencies and
settings offering work opportunities outside the school be formally recognized Design of
Vocational Education and Training programme is based on the perspective of 10-12
years of work-centered education with in-built features of: Flexible and modular
courses of varying durations Multiple entry and exit points
Art:
Arts and heritage crafts should be recognized as integral components of the school
curriculum. Awareness of their relevance to personal, social, economic and aesthetic
needs should be built among parents, school authorities and administrators. The art
should comprise a subject at every stage of school education.
Peace:
Peace—oriented values should be promoted in all subjects throughout school years with
the help of relevant activities. Peace education should form a component of teacher
education.
Health and physical education:
Health and physical education are necessary for the overall development of learners.
Through health and physical education programmes (including yoga), it may be possible
to handle successfully the issues of enrolment, retention and completion of school.

CHAPTER-4
 Availability of minimum infrastructure and material facilities, and support for planning a
flexible daily schedule are critical for improved teacher performance.
 A school culture that nurtures children's identities as learners’ enhances the potential
and interests of each child.
 Specific activities ensuring participation of all children-able and disabled- are essential
conditions for learning by all.
 The value of self discipline.
  Participation of community members in sharing knowledge and experience in a subject
area helps in forging a partnership between school and community.
 Reconceptualization of learning resources
 . Multimedia and ICT as sources for two way interaction rather than one way reception.
 School library as an intellectual space for teachers, learners and members of the
community
 Decentralized planning of school calendar and daily schedule and autonomy for teacher
professionalism practices are basic to creating a learning environment.

CHAPTER—5
 Quality concern a key feature of systemic reform, implies the system's capacity to
reform itself by enhancing its ability to remedy its own weaknesses and to develop new
capabilities.
 A broad framework for planning upwards, beginning with schools for identifying focuses
areas and subsequent consolidation at the cluster and block levels could form a
decentralized planning strategy at the district level.
 Meaningful academic planning has to be done in a participatory manner by
Headmasters and teachers. Monitoring quality must be seen as a process of sustaining
interaction with individual schools in terms of teaching- learning processes.
 Professional training of teachers can be strengthened by linking it to: Post-graduate
studies in different subjects.
 Provisions for integrated undergraduate studies in teacher education.
 Inclusion of a course on language proficiency as an integral component.
 Engaging the trained with the larger context of education, interacting with children in
real contexts and critically questioning their own beliefs about knowledge and learning,
gender, caste, equity and justice. Shifting the focus from pure disciplinary knowledge to
the learner and his/her context.

A Critical Analysis of NCF 2005

The NCF 2005 is a refreshing departure from the 2000 NCF. NCF 2000 was congested and
difficult to read; the current one has kept the common man in mind. It brings in a fresh outlook
on curriculum making; there has been a lot of advocacy on including more and more subjects
into education – environment, peace etc. The current document tries to break the information
overload on the children. Focus is on creativity and overall development of the child. The
guiding principles are connecting knowledge life to outside school, learning - away from rote;
enriching curriculum and overall development of children and not text book centric, reducing
examination stress.
Some of the issues that should have been emphasized more in the NCF.
 Multigrade teaching: According to Mr. T M Vijay Bhaskar, Secretary Education,
Government of Karnataka, this method of teaching has been quiet successful in Karnataka,
and other schools should follow this system, especially in Grade 1 and 2. He believes this
should have been emphasized in NCF 2005
 Pre-school education has been ignored especially when on one hand the Supreme Court
has attempted to make it compulsory.
 Emphasis of arts and work experience: Placing it as an integral part of the curriculum is
good. But in the current staffing pattern, there are not many teachers who are qualified.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) should help by funding for such teachers. But then in small
schools this may not be possible since it is not economical considering there are very few
students in some schools.
 Lack of clarity on the three language formula. In many cases the state language is not
taught. There has to be a clear emphasis on teaching the state language. Avoiding this can
lead to a situation as good as illiteracy.
 Social Science: Certain subjects like Geography are not given importance. For eg. Map
reading is not given importance.
 Peace education: How to interpret peace education? Could it be called ethical education –
moral science? How do you move away from the tendency to moralize at individual
level and raise it to societal level?
 Duration of class hours: This is a very important aspect that was left out as it affects not
just the students, but the working parents.
 Bottom Up Approach: This issue was heavily criticized in “National Curriculum Framework
(NCF) 2005 Review Workshop Bangalore. Many believed that our country is not ready for a
common man’s suggestions to be taken seriously.
 Accountability of the system is missing in the document: External evaluation is therefore
important in this context. The document does not have the concept of school as a public
institution and therefore, the accountability of this institution to the tax payers and general
public is missing. Such issues have to be treated in a more systematic manner

Conclusion

The NCF 2005 should have given more effort in the following areas

a) Teaching of English and Indian languages.

b) Textbook production- plurality of textbook design.
c) Teacher autonomy and systemic support structures.
d) Mobilizing resources from related departments and sectors.
e) Meaningful use of technology in the classroom and in the system.
f) Examination reform- quality of questions and processes we employ. Introducing Open book
exam.
It should also be note that teachers, parents, School Development and Monitoring Committee
(SDMC) members and children were not involved in the preparation of the NCF report. And like
always, the NCF2005 fails to mention, or recommend, how we can translate the theoretical
issues into actionable programmes.
The Bottoms Up approach is extremely ambitious. The NCF 2005 is very similar to the
previous one, mostly due to the fact that the earlier recommendations have not yet
implemented. Maybe its time to reflect on why those earlier recommendations never got
implemented.
Regarding textbook, the NCF 2005 recommends plurality of text books. Most States use
uniform text books. This is in itself a very controversial issue.
It is said that the teacher only facilitates the situation; the child constructs the
knowledge itself. With the kind of syllabus we have, the teacher cannot facilitate the
construction of knowledge by the child, unless the independence is given to the teacher
regarding syllabus preparation. The syllabus has to be more fluid.
The NCF 2005 aims to reduce the burden of subjects on students. But it recommends
the addition of new subjects. Yashpal Committee also recommended reduction of this burden,
but as we can see, it is only increasing as time goes by. The textbook is only one particular tool
in the teaching learning process. Can we remove the predominance of the textbook? Has NCF
2005 looked into this matter?
This 3 language formula goes against the right given to the linguist minorities. The 2000
document clearly stated that the 3 language formula is not good. It is wrong to state that
classical languages like Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic etc will be now included in the curriculum. But
the fact is that these languages have always been a part of the curriculum.
For many bureaucrats, politicians, educators and critics, the NCF 2005 was a failure. It
fails to see where NCF 2000 faltered and instead of fixing the problems and bringing meaningful
improvements, it repeats and throws more ambitious goals that will never be accomplished. It
leaves many questions un-answered.
The National Curriculum Framework is a vision document, as in, it is not mandatory. It
demands that we think and look at the whole question of education from a completely different
paradigm. Attitude change at all levels is required to make this a success. We need to undergo
further research and studies to come up with a Curricular Framework that is not only optimistic,
but also realistic.

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Bibliography

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Curriculum_Framework_(NCF_2005)
2. www.ncert.nic.in/rightside/links/pdf/framework/english/nf2005.pdf
3. http://www.teachersbadi.in/2013/11/national-curriculum-frameworkncf-2005.html