The Centre has started the process to revise school textbooks by appointing former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Kasturirangan as the head of a 12-member steering committee responsible for developing a new National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
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Dr. Kasturirangan also chaired the drafting committee for the National Education Policy, 2020 which recommended the development of a new NCF. The steering committee has been given a tenure of three years to complete its task, said an Education Ministry statement on Tuesday.
The last such framework was developed in 2005. It is meant to be a guiding document for the development of textbooks, syllabi and teaching practices in schools across the country. The subsequent revision of textbooks by the National Council of Educational Research and Training will draw from the new NCF.
In fact, the steering committee will develop four such frameworks, one each to guide the curriculum of school education, teacher education, early childhood education and adult education. “All the National Curriculum Frameworks would also reflect upon the implications of situations such as COVID-19 Pandemic on respective areas for future,” added the statement.
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Apart from Dr. Kasturirangan, others on the panel who had also helped draft the NEP include former Karnataka Knowledge Commission Member Secretary M.K. Sridhar and the Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh Vice Chancellor T.V. Kattimani. Other academics on the steering committee include Jamia Millia Islamia Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar, Central University of Punjab Chancellor Jagbir Singh, and Manjul Bhargava, an American mathematician of Indian origin who won the prestigious Fields Medal in 2014.
Padma Shri awardee Michel Danino, an Indian of French origin who authored a book identifying the legendary Sarasvati river with a current water body, is also on the steering committee along with National Book Trust Chairman Govind Prasad Sharma and National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration Chancellor Mahesh Chandra Pant. Indian Institute of Management-Jammu Chairman Milind Kamble, an entrepreneur who founded the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is also on the panel. From the non-profit sector, members include former bureaucrat Dhir Jhingran, who heads the Language and Learning Foundation; and former Aadhaar marketing head Shankar Maruwada, who is the founder of the EkStep Foundation.
The committee is expected to discuss position papers finalised by national focus groups and draw inputs from State curriculum frameworks apart from other experts and stakeholders, said the Ministry statement.