Page 192 - DEDU501_DEVELOPMENT_OF_EDUCATION_SYSTEM_ENGLISH

Development of Education System

Notes 3. Bringing the arts, work, peace and health and physical education squarely into the domain
of the curricular, infusing them in all areas of learning while giving them an identity of their
own at relevant stages.
4. (This is essential as quality in education includes a concern for quality of life in all its
dimensions. Concern for peace, protection of the environment and a predisposition towards
social change must be viewed as core components of quality, not merely as value premises.
Moreover, For the purpose of strengthening our cultural heritage and national identity, the
curriculum should enable the younger generation to reinterpret and reevaluate the past with
reference to new priorities and emerging outlooks of a changing societal context. Creation of
citizenry conscious of their rights an duties, and commitment to principles embodied in our
Constitution must be the priority of the school education in regard. Physical development
supports mental and cognitive development, especially in young children. The capacity to
think reason and make sense of the self and the world, and to use language, is intimately
connected with acting and interacting-doing things by oneself and with others. Therefore it
is essential to involve all students).
5. Significant changes in all the curricular areas in the context of emerging social needs.
Language Education
Language skills such as speech and listening, reading and writing – cut across school subjects and
disciplines. Their foundational role in children’s construction of knowledge right from elementary
classes through higher secondary classes needs to be recognised. A renewed effort should be
made to implement the threelanguage formula, emphasizing the recognition of children’s home
language(s) or mother tongue (s) as the best medium of instruction. This includes tribal languages.
English needs to find place along with other Indian languages. The multilingual character of
Indian society should be seen as a resource for the enhancement of school life.
Mathematics
Teaching of Mathematics, it is proposed, should enhance the learner’s resources to think and
reason, visualise and handle abstractions, to formulate and solve problems.
Science
Content, process and language of science teaching must be commensurate with the learner’s age-
range and cognitive reach. Science teaching should engage the learners in acquiring methods and
processes that will nurture their curiosity and creativity, particularly in relation to the environment.
Concern for the environment should be emphasized in every subject and through a wide range of
activities involving outdoor project work.
For any qualitative change from the present situation, science education in India must undergo a
paradigm shift. Rote learning should be discouraged. Inquiry skills should be supported and
strengthened by language, design and quantitative skills. Schools should place much greater
emphasis on supporting curricular activities aimed at stimulating, investigative ability,
inventiveness and creativity, even if these are not part of the external examination. The development
of science corners and providing access to science experimentation kits and laboratories in all the
schools are important ways of equitable provisioning for science learning.
A large-scale science fair at the national level (with feeder fairs at cluster/district/state levels)
may be organised to encourage schools and teachers to participate in the movement of popularising
and strengthening science at secondary level.
Social Sciences
Social Science learning in the NCF proposes to recognize the disciplinary markers while emphasising
integration in Social Sciences from the perspective of marginalized groups. Gender justice and
sensitivity towards tribal and dalit issues and minority sensitivities must inform all areas of Social
Sciences.

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