Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for the Foundational Stage for children between ages three to eight.

This is the first time the NCF has been prepared for the foundational stage and children aged three will be brought into the formal schooling system as proposed in the National Education Policy-2020 (NEP).

The curriculum for early childhood care and education (ECCE) is the first of the four NCFs in the making.

National Curriculum Framework

• The National Education Policy is a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in the country. As a policy of education, it not only guides the development of education but also provides directions for regulating and promoting education. 

• The first National Policy on Education was formulated in 1968, the second was in 1986 modified in 1992 and the latest was released on July 29, 2020.

• The Policy proposes the revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st century education.

• Curriculum refers to the entirety of the organised experience of students in any institutional setting towards educational aims and objectives. The elements that constitute and bring to life a curriculum are numerous, and include goals and objectives, syllabi, content to be taught and learnt, pedagogical practices and assessment, teaching-learning materials, school and classroom practices, learning environment and culture of the institution, and more.

• There are other matters that directly affect a curriculum and its practice or are integrally related while not being within the curriculum. These include the teachers and their capacities, the involvement of parents and communities, issues of access to institutions, resources available, administrative and support structures, and more.

The policy recommends four National Curriculum Frameworks:

i) National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE)

ii) National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCFECCE) 

iii) National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE)

iv) National Curriculum Framework for Adult Education (NCFAE).

• The development of the NCF is being guided by the National Steering Committee chaired by K. Kasturirangan, supported by the Mandate Group, along with the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT).  

• The Foundational Stage refers to children in the age group of 3 to 8 years, across the entire range of diverse institutions in India. This is the first stage in the 5+3+3+4 curricular and pedagogical restructuring of school education as envisioned in NEP 2020.

Rationale for Early Childhood Care and Education

• The first eight years of a child’s life are truly critical and lay the foundation for lifelong well-being, and overall growth and development across all dimensions - physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional.

• Indeed, the pace of brain development in these years is more rapid than at any other stage of a person’s life. Research from neuroscience informs us that over 85 per cent of an individual’s brain development occurs by the age of 6, indicating the critical importance of appropriate care and

stimulation in a child’s early years to promote sustained and healthy brain development and growth.

• The most current research also demonstrates that children under the age of 8 tend not to follow linear, age-based educational trajectories. It is only at about the age of 8 that children begin to converge in their learning trajectories.

• Even after the age of 8, non-linearity and varied pace continue to be inherent characteristics of learning and development. However, up to the age of 8, the differences are so varied that it is effective to view the age of 8, on average, as a transition point from one stage of learning to another. In particular, it is only at about the age of 8 that children begin to adapt to more structured learning.

• Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is thus generally defined as the care and education of children from birth to eight years.

• National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage, uses ‘play,’ at the core of the conceptual, operational, and transactional approaches to curriculum organisation, pedagogy, time and content organisation, and the overall experience of the child.

• Children learn best through play, hence learning envisaged by the National Curriculum Framework will provide stimulating experiences for the child’s development in all dimensions – cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and will also enable the achievement of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all our children.

No textbooks till age 6

• In the first three years of the Foundational Stage, for ages three to six, there should not be any prescribed textbooks for the children, says the document. Children in this age group should not be burdened with textbooks. 

• While textbooks might be inappropriate for children of ages three to six, activity books can guide Teachers to sequence activities and learning experiences. Syllabus developers can develop such books along with handbooks for teachers to plan and organise classroom experiences for this age group.

• In the last two years of the Foundational Stage, for ages six to eight, simple and attractive textbooks can be considered. Textbooks for this Stage should not only contain content for classroom instruction but also act as workbooks to give opportunities for children to work on their own and also as a record of their work.

• It also says that special care should be taken to avoid promotion of stereotypes like owls and snakes as evil, or dark-skinned people as scary, or the mother always handling the kitchen.

Evolution of Early Childhood Care and Education in India

• Traditionally, early education was family based and focussed on the learning of values and social skills in children. With changes in the socio-cultural and demographic milieu, early childhood education in India has moved from socio-cultural practices which were often informal to a more formalised institution-based setting.

• Some of the earliest pioneers of early childhood education in modern India have been Gijubhai Badheka and Tarabai Modak. They were amongst the first Indians in modern education to conceptualise a child-centred approach to the care and education of young children.

• Although models of kindergarten based on ideas of early education thinker Friedrich Froebel were established in certain towns by the English missionaries in the late 19th century, the first indigenous preschool was set by Gijubhai Badheka in 1916. Tarabai Modak established the Nutan Balshikshan Sangh (New Childhood Education Society) in 1925. The Vikaswadi centre in Kosbad established by Tarabai Modak later became one of the inspiring settings for developing community ECCE programmes in the country.

• With Mahatma Gandhi’s emerging ideas of Pre-Basic and Basic Education and Montessori’s visit to India in 1939, the foundations for organised early childhood education were further strengthened.

• The Committee for Early Childhood Education in 1953 emphasized the need for establishing pre-schools within primary school settings. Under a scheme of the Central Social Welfare Board, several organisations supported the establishment of ‘Balwadis’ in rural areas to provide services that integrated education, health, and care for families and communities. 

• The Kothari Commission (1964) recommended the establishment of pre-school centres in the country.

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