Posts Tagged ‘National Curriculum Framework’


June 28th, 2009

Examination Reforms – How successful will India be?

In the last few days there has been intense debate over Mr. Kapil Sibal’s (HRD Minister) proposal for reforms of the education sector and his decision to make optional the Class X board exams. As a matter of fact, a debate on any subject is good as it is symbolises a need for change and the recognition of a problem. When it comes to our education system, we all know that there exists a big problem, but many of us are reluctant to take any action, maybe out of the fear for the unknown. For this, I give credit to Mr. Kapil Sibal for highlighting an issue that deserves the nation’s full attention and championing the cause for improving the Indian Education System. I wish him all the success.

As the outset, I would like to highlight that this proposal is not the brainchild of Mr. Kapil Sibal. The proposal is the prime recommendation of the National Curriculum Framework 2005’s (NCF-2005) dealing with Examination Reform. Newspapers have mentioned (in passing) but have failed to highlight the importance and central nature of this recommendation in the NCF-2005.

To quote a passage from NCF Position Paper Vol II (page 142)

“Indeed, it is our view that the tenth grade board exam be made optional forthwith. Tenth-graders who intend to continue in the eleventh grade at the same school, and do not need a board certificate for any immediate purpose, should be free to take a school-conducted exam instead of the board exam.”

In my blog dated June 19, 2009 (Knowledge creation – a hostage of our education system) I had highlighted that the two board exams was part of the problem of our education system. The efficacy of the proposal to make the 10th class board exams optional will depend on how well thought-out the final guidelines are and the implementation fine-print. For one, I am a little hazy on how you make an exam optional. The text of what I have read states that “those who do not need a board certificate for any immediate purpose, should be free to take a school conducted exam”. The following two questions come to mind immediately:

* How do we judge (probably 6-12 months before the exam date) whether there is a need or not? How does one tackle the need if it arises, after the child and his family have made a decision not to appear for the board exam? What does one do, say in the case, where a child’s father takes up an outstation position after the date of the board exam, and the child did not to sit for the exam, i.e in the case of a postfacto need? I would think, given the way we operate, things may get a bit messy.

* There is a danger that we may create a class system within the school system – those who have given the 10th class board exam and those who have not. This would be more so, if specific and implementable criterion for taking or not taking the board examination is not specified in the directives. If not approached with sensitivity and caution, there is a possibility that an unjust and inequitable negative perception is created against those who do not take the exam and who may be classified as being inferior to those who do take the exam. In this case society in general, and parents and schools in specific would force all children to appear for the exam thus defeating the very purpose of the amendment.

I would also like to state that abolition of the 10th board exam (at-least for a majority of students who do not have the “need”) will serve limited purpose, if it is not supported by initiatives/reforms at various levels i.e.:

Schools: Schools should use the additional time and flexibility provided by system to initiate programs and teaching practices that develop skills (analytical, understanding, etc) and individuality of the students. Teaching practices should be aimed at educating the mind, body and soul of the student as against the current practice of educating only the mind. To achieve this, there would be a need to relook at how we teach in the classroom and the resources we use. We all know that a lot of our teachers are ill-equipped to make a transition to learner-centric teaching-learning practices from the current “drill-and-kill” approach.

Parents: Parents need to be made aware of the benefits of a holistic education for their children and also to embrace this cause. Currently, parents are only educating their children for 10th class and 12th class exams. Keeping the 12th class exams in its current form will result in parents wanting to educate their children for this exam and the 10th class board exams will continue to be seen as a dress rehearsal for the main event.

12th Class boards: Unless and until changes are also initiated for the 12th class exams, (I am afraid) only limited purpose will be served. As a first and immediate step, there exists an argument for replacing the absolute marking system with the letter grade system. I say this keeping in mind the following:

* I don’t think that a case can be made that a student who has scored 95% in his board exam is in anyway superior that a student who scored 94%. Then why are we promoting this artificial distinction (I also believe that a student who has scored 95% may not be superior to a student who scored 85% – but that is another debate that can be addressed elsewhere).

* Looking at the cut-off marks for admissions into colleges (97% in some courses at some colleges) and the year-on-year increasing trend of these cut-off’s, there isn’t much more manoeuvrability left in the system. Are we expecting students to score 100%, and after they have achieved that – then what?

What the replacement of the percentage system with the letter grade system does is that, to a certain extent, it does away with the artificial distinctions (95% vs. 94%) we make between students. As there will be many students grouped within a letter grade, colleges will be forced to devise methods of selecting students who most meet their admissions criteria – whether through an entrance examination or looking at a student’s overall development (extracurricular participation, contribution to society and environment, etc) or a combination of factors (note: college admission practices would have to be well thought-out as ill conceived admission practices would mean that no progress has been made). How these changes are implemented at the college level will determine the extent to which schools and parents will change their outlook and whose buy-in is critical for achieving any meaningful success in reforming the education system.

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Posted in Education, Learner centric teaching, National Curriculum Framework, News | 5 Comments »

June 18th, 2009

National Curriculum Framework (2005) – who’s listening?

The National Curriculum framework (2005), a watershed document, provides a basis for radical changes in the Indian education system. The Indian Education Review (Volume 44, No.2, July 2008),the latest published edition as on date of writing this blog, makes some interesting observations, recommending some radical changes from how education is imparted in Indian classrooms. These recommendations include:

i. Linking school knowledge with the child’s out-of-school experiences;

ii. Discouraging rote learning;

iii. Broadening the scope of classroom learning so that it does beyond the prescribed textbook;

iv. Making the examination system flexible and responsive to the child’s overall development; and

v. Developing a participatory [school] identity consistent with democratic governance

Those familiar with the evolution of educational psychology, philosophy and pedagogy know that none of these recommendations are new, but have been endorsed by eminent international (Bruner, Einstein) and national (Gandhi, Tagore) educationalists. It is a pity that, in India, we have at best been paying lip service these theories that have been propounded and effectively practiced around the world since the ancient times.

However, a beginning has been made by NCERT by acknowledging the merits of child centered approach to education and the framers for the NCF 2005 should be commended for vocalising some of the problems rooted in our system. As they say in India Der Aaye Drust Aaye (better late, than never), even though, in this, case we are struggling to reach the start line, while other countries started on their journey a long while ago.

If we were to evaluate the changes that the schools have tried to bring about in their classroom practices in the past three years post the acceptance of the recommendations of NCF-2005, we would get to know the progress we are making towards creating a student centric classroom. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any statistics or research on implementation practices or know of any school that is actively and consciously seeking to implement such a classroom environment. If you have any information related to this I would love to hear from you.

In my assessment, the challenges of moving away from a “prescribed textbook, the traditional methods of teaching which encourages rote learning and the examination system which ignores individual interest and profile of [student] competencies” , cannot be overcome without paying special attention to the needs and mindset of the 3 influential stakeholders of the Indian education system.

The School - The primary consideration for schools in India is performance in 10th and 12th class examinations. The performance of schools is purely judged by how well the students have done in these examinations and the breadth of success achieved. All classroom activities and teaching methodologies are dictated by how much they contribute towards students scoring high in the “boards”. Child centric teaching practices and the development of creativity is not a consideration; nor a priority.

The Parents – The primary criterion for the selection of a school by a parent for his child is the school’s ability to prepare the students for the 10th and 12th class examinations, i.e. if the school has a good track record in producing students who score highly in these examinations; it is considered a good school. This is because these examinations are milestones in a child’s life and have an unduly high weightage on career options of the child and/or the quality of the institution for higher studies that he/she would attend. All other factors like inculcation of values, emphasis on creativity, co-curricular / extracurricular achievements, and social involvement are inconsequential in the selection of a school.

Institutions of higher learning – The majority of higher education institutions in India grant admission on the basis of board examination results and consider performance in these examinations as the summation of student’s accomplishment till date and a proxy indicator of his future potential.

As evident, the common thread between the stakeholders mentioned above is performance in board examinations, which is considered a measure of success by schools, parents, institutions of higher learning and society in general. As a society we know better, but as individuals we fail to take cognisance of the fact that there are many qualities that define a person and his ability to achieve success.

I would think that if we as a community continue to treat board examinations as the holy-grail of education, it would be extremely difficult to change the mindset of schools and parents. For any changes to occur, it is important that reforms be initiated and at the onset be implemented at the level of institutions of higher learning as well. It is crucial to make systemic changes at this level as this group has significant influence on the thought process of the other two significant stakeholders (parents and schools) and has the added advantage of being more independent in its decision making. The institutions of higher learning would also benefit by selecting a diverse-ability group of students on parameters beyond board results.

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June 15th, 2009

Commonsense in Curriculum

Curriculum is the driving force of a school and can be loosely defined as the framework within which the teaching learning in a school is designed. In that sense, it is the most crucial operational document and yet the schools have the least say in its creation. This document which, in sanctity, is treated next only to the country’s constitution and holy text, is designed by Curriculum Committees largely composed of bureaucrats, scholars and academicians, with few, if any representing the schools. Most of these people have a very sound understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of learning and pedagogy but are clueless about the dynamics of a classroom. A few are also politically motivated with no interest in education and learning but see curriculum as means for scoring political mileage.

curriculum-creyons

Curriculum committees have served their purpose in the past but today its confining, cumbersome and insular style of working is hindering and retarding the process of curriculum design. Yet they have the mandate of creating information that inform school/classroom decisions. Curriculum committees in their current form are redundant and are on the verge of extinction unless they refocus their purpose and modus operandi.

At a time when elementary curriculum is becoming more and more transdisciplinary, Indian curriculum creators in their bid to pay obeisance to the sanctity of disciplines with utter disregard to principles of understanding and working of the brain, like it compartmentalised and departmentalised. Although a beginning has been made in the form of National Curriculum Framework (NCF)-2005, we are yet to make our elementary curriculum interdisciplinary! In some cases the curriculum fails to align vertically and horizontally making it imbalanced, repetitive or incomplete, a problem acknowledged by the makers of the NCF-2005. Most of these committees base their work on national calendar and not on school calendar that actually determines the goings on in a school.

In many countries curriculum committees are, slowly but surely, being replaced by curriculum mapping, a concept that owes its origin to work undertaken by Fenwick English is rooted in commonsense practices. Curriculum mapping provides for increasing inclusion of teachers in decision-making roles making the exercise more meaningful and data more accessible for the purpose of analysis, sorting and communicating; and also been acknowledged in the NCF-2005. This ensures better articulation of the curriculum to all stakeholders and its integration by making natural intersecting points more visible; ensuring realistic and meaningful understanding by the learners. Curriculum mapping provides for best developmental placement of concept and skills within and across the grades, especially in the elementary grades.

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