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Development of Education System

Notes 3. Working Hours in Schools: For making the optimum use of human resources, increased
working hours in educational institutions should have been recommended.
4. Too Much Expectation from Community Help: There is very little hope of obtaining
Community funds for educational purposes as there has developed a strong tendency on
the part of the rich members of the community to contribute to political parties due to
obvious reasons.
5. Neighbourhood School Concept Ignored: The neighbourhood school concept advocated by
the Kothari Commission for eliminating the segregation that now takes place between the
schools for the poor and the under-privileged classes and those for the rich and the
privileged, has been completely ignored.
6. Silent on the Existence of Public Schools: The NPE has evaded the issue of the
‘Commercialisation’ of education by most of the public schools in the country.
7. No Check on the Working of Minority Schools: The Policy does not propose any checks to
prevent the management of the pu blic of the public schools from exploiting the staff
working there.
8. Multiplication of Institutions: Setting up State Advisory Boards of Education, District
Institutes of Education and Trainin and District Boards of Education is not likely to serve
any useful purpose.
Self Assessment
2. State whether the following statements are ‘True’ or ‘False’:
(i) The BNPE has used the term ECCE in place of pre-primary or nursery education.
(ii) The span under consideration in ECCE is from conception to about 5 years.
(iii) The local community should be fully involved in ECCE programmes.
(iv) The most important significant aspect of the NPE is that for the second time in the
history of India, an education policy was formulated at the initiative of a prime minister.
(v) NPE proposed a national system of educaiton to provide access to education of a
comparable quality to all students.
6.7 National Policy on Education and Reconstruction of Curriculum

Importance of Curriculum. Curriculum is one of the most important elements of education through
which it can bring about the ‘fine synthesis between change-oriented technologies and the
country’s continuity of cultural traditions’, as observed by the NPE. Curriculum contains subject-
matter of various disciplines and activities. It fulfills the tasks set. The NPE provided the
directions and the Programme of Action (1986) formulated for their implementation worked
out the details of the curriculum.
6.7.1 Special Features of the Curriculum

1. Common Core Curriculum: The National System of Education will be based on a national
curricular framework which contains a common core along with other components that
are flexible. The common core will include the history of India’s freedom movement, the
constitutional obligations and other content essential to nurture national identity. These
elements will cut across subject areas and will be designed to promote values such as
India’s common cultural heritage, egalitarianism, democracy and secularism, equality of
the sexes, protection of the environment, removal of social barriers, observance of the
small family norm and inculcation of the scientific temper. All educational programmes
will be carried on hi strict conformity with secular values.
2. Minimum Levels of Learning: Minimum levels of learning will be laid down for each
stage of education. Steps will also be taken to foster among students an understanding of
the diverse cultural and social systems of the people living in different parts of the country.

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