NCF & NCrF- Innovative Approach

 It has been almost four years since the time NEP 2020 was launched by the honourable Prime Minister of India. Then onwards we have travelled a long way in terms of implementation of the same because the policy is made in such a manner that it has a balanced mix of the ancient Indian education system and modern-day education as desired due to the advancement of technology and different needs of the changing time. Any new policy requires a lot of diligence while being implemented and so is the case with this one as well. The focus on the foundational stage of skill development and entrepreneurship abilities and then innovation in all areas of life not only for the sake of an individual but also the global issues to be addressed is the very spirit of “Vasudhavaa Kutumbakam”. The most important is relevant emphasis on the Indian languages and the culture. I would avoid repeating the explanation as we all have gone through the same umpteen number of times in the last few years and would straightaway approach the subject of the recent development to move forward using the document effectively. CBSE had earlier brought out the framework on curriculum and foundational stage activities etc. Now after an extensive exercise, they have come out with the introduction of new subject combinations for classes IX to XII based on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF). Also most startling of the initiatives is the National Credit Framework (NCrF) developed by the University Grant Commission(UGC), CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling), AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) Ministry of education, NCEVT (National Council for Vocational Education and Training) and ministry of skill development. As per this document, the proposed academic year structure will consist of 1200 notional learning hours equating to 40 credits.

I shall restrict to the aspect of school education and avoid higher education. The need for a National Credit Framework cropped up because of the implementation of the NEP 2020 which emphasizes the integration of general (academic) education, vocational education and training/skilling. As per NEP 2020, there should be no hard separation for ‘curricular’ or ‘co-curricular' among ‘arts’, ‘humanities’ and ‘sciences’ or between vocational or academic streams as learning is a process that takes into account multidimensional aspects of cognitive, social and physical domains. The proposed credit system will take into account the learning hours put in by a learner irrespective of stream of study (general and vocational) and bring the two at par. The credit system will allow the learner to exercise easy mobility between and within general and vocational education and training/skilling. This will also give way to the integration and mixing of education, skilling and work experience along with enabling educational acceleration.

The credit is considered as the recognition that a learner has completed a prior course of learning, corresponding to a qualification at a given level. For such prior qualification, the learner would be required to put in a certain volume of institutional and workplace learning. The more complex a qualification is, it would imply that a greater volume of learning would have gone into the same. The credit points would confirm and provide learners, employers and institutions a means of describing and comparing the learning outcomes achieved.

As mentioned earlier, the National Education Policy recognizes no separation between different areas of learning, for example- arts and sciences, vocational and academic streams, and curricular and extracurricular for assignment of credits, meaning thereby, the learning shall not be considered limited to only instructional hours but will also include almost all other activities in and outside the institution.  The total outcome-based learning hours for credits will include (subject to assessment): -

1                    Classroom teaching/learning hours

2                   Lab work/innovation labs/projects

3                   Yearly and half-yearly examinations/class tests/quizzes/assessments including formative assessments

4                   Experiential learning including relevant experience and professional levels acquired activity hours

a.    Performing arts, music, handicraft work,

b.    Debate and discussion/Essay Writing/Recitation Competition

c.     Story Writing competition

d.    Celebration of festivals in institutes, music performances, and Drama.

e.    Other Contests

 

      5     Sports/games/physical activity/yoga

      6.      Life skills including employment skills

      7.     Social/community work/NCC/shramdan: School cleaning,                   building, decoration

      8.     Bag less days, field visits organized by the institution

    9.      Vocational education/training, skilling, minor/major project work, assignments

      10.    Field visits/ Industry attachment by institutions

      11.   Internship and apprenticeship hours on the job training (OJT), and Experiential learning including relevant experience and professional levels acquired

      12.   Blended/online/digital learning

      13.   Self-Study/Home assignments (for NIOS)

      14.  Any other type of learning as may be notified by the regulators concerned

 

The CBSE proposes to have a board examination twice a year and allows students to appear either in both exams or only in one. There will be two terms/ semester with the exclusive syllabus for each, meaning thereby that what has been tested in one term will not be asked in the second. This is a good move but I have some concerns which I shall share after talking about the announcement made by CBSE about the pattern of studies in classes IX to XII. As per the proposal, there will be ten subjects to be studied by the students of classes IX and X instead of five as in the present practice. Out of the ten, there would be three languages and two of them must be Indian languages. The other seven subjects would be Mathematics and Computational thinking, Science, Social science, Environmental education (and the same will be examined externally), Art education, Physical education and Vocational education (which will be a mix of internal and external examinations).

 In class XII there would be two languages (out of which one must be an Indian language) and four additional subjects, a total six (presently class XII has five subjects including one language). The students of 11 and 12 can choose subjects from the four groups below-

Group 1.  Languages - select any two out of which one must be native. (External exam).

Group 2.  Arts education - Dance, music, sculpting, Physical education and vocational education. (Internal and external exam)

Group 3.  Social science - History, Geography, Political science, economics etc. Interdisciplinary area -  Environmental Education, Commerce etc. (External exam)

Group 4.  Mathematics and computational thinking, Science. (External exam)

As mentioned above, students must select at least two languages from group one and four main subjects (with an option of fifth subject) from at least two of the remaining groups. Thus a total number of compulsory subjects is six, and one additional subject is optional. I would illustrate the credits and what the mark statement would look like. If this becomes applicable for classes IX and XI from this session (2023-24):-

 

For Class IX (existing stream)-

1.    Total 5 subjects (2 Languages + 3 Main Subjects) to be cleared.

2.    210 hrs of per subject = 210 x 5 = 1050 hrs

150 hrs for HPE/Work Experience/Art Education (60+30+60).

3.    7 credits per subject, HPE and AE

2 credits each 1 Work Experience and 1 AE

4.    Total credits = 40 (7x5=35 for subjects and 5 for HPE, WE, AE)

5.    Additional credit for 6^th and 7^th Subjects (if passed as per passing criteria of CBSE) will be eligible to earn 47/54 credits.

You can see that for each 30 hours of learning 1 credit is earned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The report might look like: -

Subject Code	Subject Name	Theory	Practical	Marks	Grade	Credits
184	English Lang. & Lit	056	019	075	C1	7
002 / 122	Hindi- Course A / Sanskrit	052	019	071	B1	7
041	Mathematics- Standard	057	020	077	B2	7
086	Science	058	019	077	B2	7
087	Social Science	046	018	064	B2	7
	Health & Physical Education   Work Experience   Art Education	-     -     -	-     -     -	-     -     -	-     -     -	2     1     2
Total Credits earned						40

 

 

CLASS IX (PROPOSED SCHEME)

 

As per NCF, students of classes IX and X will have to study: -

1.    10 Subjects – 3 Languages + 7 Subjects.

2.    120 hrs. for each language and interdisciplinary area.

3.    150 hrs per subject.

4.    60 hrs for AE and HE.

 

Curricular areas	Subjects	Hours	Marks	Credits	Mode of Exam as per NCF-SE
Languages	Language 1	120	100	4	External Examination
	Language 2	120	100	4
	Language 3	120	100	4
Mathematics and Computational Thinking	Mathematics (Standard/ Basic)	150	100	5
Science	Science	150	100	5
Social Science	Social Science	150	100	5
Interdisciplinary Areas	Environmental Education	120	100	4
Vocational Education	Skill Subject	150	100	5	Local Assessment (Internal) with External Examiner
Physical education & well-being	Physical Education	60		2
Art Education	Art Education	60		2
	Total	1,200		40

CLASS XI existing scheme -

 

1.    5 Subjects (1 Language + 4 Subjects/ electives)

2.    210 hrs allotted to each subject (210 x 5 =1050 hrs).

3.    150 hrs for subjects of Internal Assessment (HPE, WE & General Studies)

4.    HPE – 60 Hrs (2 Credits), WE 30 Hrs (1 Credit) and General Studies – 60 Hrs (2 Credits).

5.    Students passing all 5 subjects will be eligible for 40 credits.

 

Class XI Proposed Scheme –

As per the proposal, there will be 4 groups as below –

Group-1

          Languages – as applicable

Group-2

1.    Art Education -  Music, Dance, Theatre, Painting, Sculpture

2.    Physical Education – Specific sports, Games, Yoga.

3.    Vocational Education.

Group-3

1.    Social Science – History, Geo, Pol Sc, Eco, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, etc…

2.    Interdisciplinary Areas – Commerce, Environmental Education, etc…

Group-4

1.    Mathematics and Computational Thinking – Mathematics, programming and coding, Business Mathematics, etc…

2.    Science -  Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc…

 

 

 

 

 

1.    Students would have to pass 6 subjects (2 Languages + 4 Subjects). At least one language should be Indian

2.    Total hrs allotted 1200

180 hrs to each language (6 Credits each language)

210 hrs to each of the 4 subjects (7 credits each subject).

3.    Students passing 6 subjects will be eligible to earn 40 Credits as below –

 

	Subjects		Hours	Marks	Credits
Compulsory Subjects	Subject 1	Language 1	180	100	6
	Subject 2	Language 2	180	100	6
	Subject 3		210	100	7
	Subject 4		210	100	7
	Subject 5		210	100	7
	Subject 6		210	100	7
Optional	Subject 7		210*	100	7
	Total		1,200		40-47 Credits

 

This is a sample and for the actual implementation, we have to wait for CBSE`s direction for the proposed scheme. The idea behind this article is to have a fair notion about the National Credit Framework at the school level.

I would also like to emphasise that NEP is the vision of the educational direction and NCF and NCrF are the tools to follow the same and achieve the objectives laid down in NEP 2020. The need of NCrF is to fulfil the vision of NEP making education more holistic and lay emphasis on the integration of academic education and vocational education, including experiential learning and relevant experiences, so NCrF has come as a tool to help in the removal of hard separation between general and vocational subjects and establishing equivalence between them.

To conclude, I would like to suggest that teachers, parents and learners should make themselves aware of NCF and NCrF so that the desired outcome can be achieved. You may have many doubts and questions (so do I) but as we go along we shall get the answers because we learn more by doing than just by reading.