National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005)

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005) is one of the four National Curriculum Frameworks published in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005 by the National Council of Educational Research and Training NCERT in India. The executive had taken the decision at its meeting head on 14th and 19th July 2004 to revise the national curriculum framework for A.Padmalatha who is in pursuit of completing her M.Ed

The Framework provides the framework for making syllabii,textbooks and teaching practices within the school education programmes in India. The NCF 2005. document draws its policy basis from earlier government reports on education as Learning Without Burdenand National Policy of Education 1986-1992 and focus group discussion. After wide ranging deliberations 21 National Focus Group Position Papers have been developed under the aegis of NCF-2005. The state of art position papers provided inputs for formulation of NCF-2005. The document and its offshoot textbooks have come under different forms of reviews in the press.

Its draft document came under the criticism from the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE).In February 2008 the director Krishna Kumar in an interview also discussed the challenges that are faced by the document. The approach and recommendations of NCF-2005 are for the entire educational system. A number of its recommendations, for example, focus on rural schools. The syllabus and textbooks based on it are being used by all the CBSE schools, but NCF-based material is also being used in many State schools.

NCF 2005 has been translated into 22 languages and has influenced the syllabii in 17 States. The NCERT gave a grant of Rs.10 lakh 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 future 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].

Perspective of NCF

The NCF was framed Considering the articulated ideas in the past such as

To shift learning from rote method.

Connecting knowledge to life outside the school.

To integrate examination into classroom learning and make it more flexible.

To enriching the curriculum so that it goes beyond textbooks.

Nurturing an over-riding identity informed by caring concerns within the democratic polity of the country.

NCF focused on

Learning without burden to make learning a joyful experience and move away from textbooks to be a basis for examination and to remove stress from children. It recommended major changes in the design of syllabus.

To develop a sense of self-reliance and dignity of the individual which would for the basis of social relationship and would develop a sense of nonviolence and oneness across the society.

To develop a child centered approach and to promote universal enrollment and retention up to the age of 14.

To inculcate the feeling of oneness, democracy and unity in the students the curriculum is enabled to strengthen our national identity and to enable the new generation reevaluate.

J. P. Naik has described equality, quality and quantity as the exclusive triangle for Indian education.

With respect to social context NCF 2005 has ensured that irrespective of caste, creed, religion and sex all are provided with a standard curriculum.