Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for Foundational Stage and the pilot project of Balvatika 49 Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country on October 20.
Key points
- Foundational, Preparatory, Middle & Secondary are the four stages of NCF for school education.
- The Foundational stage NCF was the first integrated NCF of the country for ages 3-8 years and is set to transform quality of education through holistic approach.
- The new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure of NEP 2020 integrates Early Childhood Care and Education for all children of ages 3 to 8. Early childhood lays the foundation for life-long learning and development – it is a key determinant of the quality of overall life.
- The NCF has recommended that the mother tongue should be the primary medium of instruction for children till eight years of age, in both public and private schools.
- The NCF’s foundational stage edition, however, is not so much about revision of textbooks, but about changes in teaching and learning process. While the medium of instruction forms an integral part, it also focuses on play-based pedagogy and addressing delayed learning.
- As articulated in NEP 2020, National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage, uses ‘play,’ at the core of the conceptual, operational, and transactional approaches to curriculum organization, pedagogy, time and content organization, and the overall experience of the child.
- The Foundational Stage envisions an integrated approach to Early Childhood Care and Education; for children between ages 3-8.
- The NCF has an institutional focus, the importance of the home environment cannot be overemphasized – including family, extended family, neighbours, and others in the close community – all of whom have a very significant impact on the child, particularly in this age cohort of 3-8 years. Hence, this NCF will deal with the role of teachers as well as parents and communities in enabling and enhancing the developmental outcomes that are sought during this stage.
Panchkosha concept
- The framework has listed the ‘panchakosha’ concept for education of children and its five parts are physical development (sharirik vikas), development of life energy (pranik vikas), emotional and mental development (manasik vikas), intellectual development (bauddhik vikas) and spiritual development (chaitsik vikas).
- The concept of Panchakosha originated from Taittiriya Upanishad, a Vedic era Sanskrit text embedded within the Yajurveda.
- The child is a whole being with panchakoshas or five sheaths. The layers are annamaya kosha (physical layer), pranamaya kosha (life force energy layer), manomaya kosha (mind layer), vijnanamaya kosha (intellectual layer) and anandamaya kosha (inner self).
- Each layer exhibits certain distinct characteristics. The holistic development of a child takes into account the nurturing and nourishment of these five layers.
- Specific types of practices are designed to enable the development of each of these koshas.
- However, the practices are designed keeping in mind that the koshas are interconnected and so activities that focus primarily on one would also contribute to the development of the others.
