New Delhi, August 10: The government informed the Lok Sabha on Monday that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) 2022 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, in line with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Central Minister of State for Education, Sukant Majumdar, stated in a written response that these frameworks establish the basis for curriculum goals, competencies, learning outcomes, syllabi, textbooks, teaching methods, and assessments, tailored to different stages and subjects.
He noted that NCERT updates its textbooks annually based on feedback from students, teachers, and other stakeholders, without making structural changes. If necessary, NCERT consults experts to finalize these updates.
Earlier in April, the Ministry of Education granted NCERT the status of a ‘Deemed to be University.’ In response to another query, Majumdar mentioned that this status would enhance NCERT’s ability to promote educational research and innovation, as well as strengthen collaborations with national and international agencies.
This status will further solidify NCERT’s role as a think tank and serve as a national resource institution providing technical support to both central and state governments.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) reviewed NCERT’s application for ‘Deemed to be University’ status through its expert committee, in accordance with the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2023.
Majumdar also revealed that a National Steering Committee (NSC) was formed to prepare the National Curriculum Framework (NCF). This committee sought suggestions for the frameworks from a diverse range of stakeholders, including teachers, parents, students, scholars, and educational institutions.
He explained that the process involved a mobile app survey focused on citizens at the national level, engaging over 1.3 million interested citizens, including students and parents, and a state-level mobile app survey that involved more than 150,000 teachers, parents, students, and academics.
Over 1,550 consultation meetings were held at the district level across 32 states and union territories. Suggestions were also gathered from 8,000 stakeholders during 12 consultation meetings with 35 groups of institutions, universities, and civil society organizations. Additionally, focus groups established by states and union territories, comprising over 4,000 experts, contributed more than 600 position papers on 25 specific topics. NCERT’s National Focus Groups, with over 175 members, also submitted 25 papers.
These inputs were analyzed, and the recommendations were incorporated into the NCF. Based on this feedback, the NCF-FS was released on October 20, 2022, and the NCF-SE was released on August 23, 2023.
Following the NCF, NCERT has established the National Syllabus and Teaching-Learning Material Committee (NSTC). Under this committee, 13 Curriculum Area Groups (CAG) and Textbook Development Teams (TDT) have been formed for all subjects and grades. The NSTC has been tasked with developing teaching-learning materials, including textbooks.
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