Class 11, 12 students need to study 2 languages: National Curriculum Framework
The NCF has been drafted by the union government-appointed national steering committee headed by former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) K Kasturirangan
NEW DELHI: Students of classes 11 and 12 will have to study two languages including one of Indian origin, according to the final National Curriculum Framework (NCF) released by the NCERT on Wednesday. The NCF also recommended board exams should be held twice a year, and there should be no restriction on students choosing subjects within streams such as science or commerce.
The NCF, which has been drafted by the union government-appointed national steering committee headed by former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) K Kasturirangan, is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The NEP emphasised on teaching Indian languages and offering them as medium of instruction in school and higher education.
The NCF defines benchmarks for NCERT textbooks taught in the schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in classes 3 to 12, teaching and learning practices, and assessment methods adopted by the schools. However, these will remain recommendatory in nature for state education boards given that education is a state subject. NCF was last revised in 2005.
An early draft of the NCF was released in April by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for public consultation.
The final NCF retains most of the recommendations included in the draft but there are some changes as well.
The NCF’s suggestion that at least two languages, one of them being an Indian language, will be offered to students in classes 11 and 12, is one such change.
The languages will be chosen by students from the pool of language and literature courses that are offered. The choices for languages would include Sanskrit and other modern/classical languages and literature of India, including classical Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Pali, Persian, and Prakrit, among others. In addition to this, foreign languages, such as French, German, Japanese, and Korean would also be offered.
Presently, only one language is taught to students in classes 11 and 12 in CBSE schools. It means the addition of a language will increase one more subject in these classes.
“This is to ensure that these languages and literatures stay alive and vibrant, especially in States where they may be best taught and nurtured,” the framework said.
The framework also underlines that “at least one language native to India will be offered as an option for the medium of instruction to all students up to Grade 12.”
Recently, CBSE has asked its schools to offer Indian languages as a medium of instruction.
The framework also confirms the recommendation proposed in the draft to conduct board examinations twice a year to ensure that students have enough time and opportunity to perform well.
“Students can then appear for a board examination in courses they have completed and feel ready for. This process could be made possible through the creation of a comprehensive test item bank which can be used to create tests using suitable software. This will enable the movement towards a system of on-demand examinations in the near future as described in NEP 2020,” the framework stated.
It also recommended a semester system for classes 11 and 12, and “no hard separation between arts, humanities, and sciences”.
“In the long term, all (education) boards should change to semester or term-based systems, where students can test in a subject as soon as they have completed the subject, which would further reduce the content load being tested in any one examination,” the framework said.
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