The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Thursday told the Madras High Court that as per the National Curriculum Framework (NCF)-2005 developed by it, no homework should be given to school students up to Class II and only homework for two hours a week could be given to students between classes III and V.
The court was also told that middle-school students could be provided homework for an hour a day (about five to six hours a week) and those in high and higher secondary classes could be given homework for two hours a day (about 10 to 12 hours a week). The NCERT also said the information was disseminated to all State governments as well as Union Territories. In so far as the number of subjects and textbooks prescribed for various classes, the council said the NCF-2005 recommends only two books (language and mathematics) for classes I and II and three books (language, environmental science and mathematics) for classes III to V.
It also said that general knowledge as a subject in school promotes rote memorisation.
The submissions were made in a counter-affidavit filed by NCERT secretary Harsh Kumar to a writ petition preferred by advocate M. Purushothaman who had accused a majority of private schools, affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, of dumping too many subjects, other than those prescribed by NCERT, on school children and subjecting them to mental pressure.
Autonomy suggested
Mr. Kumar said NCF-2005 also suggests that autonomy should be given to the schools to develop their own flexible time tables thereby not making it necessary to teach all subjects on all days.
The schools could decide to teach two or three subjects on a particular day and the rest on another day, thereby providing time for students to participate in activity-based learning.
He also said that parents must stand up against schools which classify students as star performers, average, below average and failures and object to such discrimination.
