Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Launches 'Mandate Document' For NCF

New Delhi: Union Minister and senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday released the 'Mandate Document: Guidelines for the Development of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF)' at a function held at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. At the event, Pradhan said that while the National Education Policy (NEP) is the guiding philosophy, NCF is the pathway.

The Union Minister of Education said that the NCF is the mandate document of the 'Constitution' to champion the changing demands of the 21st century and positively impact the future. He further said that the mandate document will bring about a paradigm shift with focus on holistic development of children, emphasis on skilling, vital role of teachers, learning in mother tongue, cultural rootedness. He claimed that the NCF is a step towards decolonization of the Indian education system.

Eminent personalities including Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Chairperson, National Steering Committee for the National Curriculum Framework, Dr. Ashwathnarayan C. N, Minister for Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, Dr. B. C. Nagesh, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Government of Karnataka, Ms. Anita Karwal, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India, and Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) was also present on the occasion.

Pradhan has suggested creating an app-based process to enable suggestions for the NCF from every citizen of India. He further appreciated the education experts, academia and intellectuals for their contribution towards NCF and said that India's model of education based on the NEP 2020 will act as a benchmark for emerging economies across the world.

As per the announcement by the central government, development of the NCF is being guided by the National Steering Committee (NSC), chaired by Dr K Kasturirangan, supported by the Mandate Group, along with the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT). The NCF includes the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE), the National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Care & Education (NCFECCE), the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE), and the National Curriculum Framework for Adult Education (NCFAE).

The Mandate Document will be acting as a bridge between the NEP 2020 and the NCF, and contains the linkage between the curriculum of schools with the curriculum of Teacher Education as an integral part of the objectives of the NEP 2020 in the overall Teacher Education sector.

The government has also said that more than 700 State-level Expert Groups are being consulted for NCF in varied states and Union Territories across the subjects and themes. The consultation also includes 25 National-level expert groups including international experts.