Revamped, more ‘Indian’ syllabus likely for school students from 2023-24

The central government is likely to roll out new National Curriculum Framework, the document used as a blueprint when designing school syllabi, as early as February next year.

Representational image of students in a classroom | ANI

New Delhi: School students in India could study a new curriculum from the academic session 2023-24.  The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) —  a document that’s referred to while designing school textbooks in India — is likely to be ready by early next year, ThePrint has learnt. 

The NCF is being developed as part of the government’s new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Sources in the education ministry have told ThePrint that the focus of the revised curriculum is “rootedness in India” and will inculcate “a sense of pride” among students. 

“The NCF document will be ready by early next year — most likely by February — following which the school curriculum across the country will be revised accordingly,” a highly-placed government source told ThePrint.  

The government, the source said, plans to release the document “well in time before the beginning of the 2023-24 academic session so that books can be printed according to the new syllabus”.

ThePrint reached the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Education via email for a comment. This story will be updated when a response is received.  

The NCF is being developed as part of the government’s new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — a plan that proposes sweeping reforms in the country’s education sector. 

The process is led by an expert committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K. Kasturirangan, who was also at the helm of shaping the NEP.  The exercise is being carried out under the supervision of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which works on the school-level curriculum.

Consultations are currently ongoing with 25 national focus groups to help design the new NCF. 

The NCF currently being used in India is from 2005. 

Sweeping changes

Although there have been minor revisions in the school curriculum in the last few years — among these, a reduction of the syllabus during the pandemic — this revision will be a major one, officials aware of the development told ThePrint. 

According to a mandate document prepared by the NCERT, everything in the new curriculum will be designed keeping “Indian roots” in mind with the aim of “instilling pride for the country” among students. 

It also aims to teach them gender equality and make them compassionate human beings, the document says. 

The government panel working on the NCF has met at least 20 religious groups among other stakeholders. 

The religious groups that the panel has met include the Ramakrishna Mission, Chinmaya Mission, Aurobindo Ashram, Saraswati Vidya Mandir, two Christian missionary organisations based in Chennai, and Alim Madrasah, which runs registered madrasas across the country.

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)