New Panel setup to draft new national curriculum framework in line with NEP

The Union Education Ministry on Tuesday announced the formation of a 12-member national steering committee to develop the new national curriculum framework (NCF) in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. With K Kasturirangan as the head, who had also headed the NEP 2020 drafting committee.

The NCF works as the guideline for syllabus, textbooks, teaching and learning practices in the country. Right now, India is following its fourth national curriculum framework, which was published by the NCERT in 2005.

The ministry said that the time frame of the development of the new framework will be three years.

According to the statement issued by the Union Ministry, the committee will develop four curriculum frameworks -- national curriculum framework for school education; national curriculum for early childhood care and education; national curriculum framework for teacher education; and national curriculum framework for Adult Education.

The statement added, “The Committee will discuss different aspects of these four areas keeping in focus all the recommendations of NEP 2020 for proposing curriculum reforms… All the national curriculum frameworks would also reflect upon the implications of situations such as COVID-19 pandemic on respective areas for future.”

The committee comprises of, Mahesh Chandra Pant, Chancellor of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration; Govind Prasad Sharma, chairman of the National Book Trust; Najma Akhtar, Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia; TV Kattimani, Vice-Chancellor of the Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh; Jagbir Singh, Chancellor of the Central University of Punjab; and MK Sridhar, who was a member of the NEP 2020 drafting committee, among others.

Although the tenure of the committee is three years, the statement said that it might be extended as per requirement.

A tech platform will be set up to receive inputs from the states after wider consultation at the district and block levels. The committee will consider these inputs while drafting the framework. The committee will also be free to invite subject experts, scholars, educationists, etc. as and when required and deliberate and decide upon the course of actions to meet the timelines of the strategy for the development of the NCF.

The framework will only be finalised when the committee has taken into account proposals from different stakeholders, including states and union territories, the NCERT's Executive Committee (EC) and General Body (GB), and the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE). The NCERT Director will work with the committee to finish its module.