SPEECH OF HON’BLE GOVERNOR PUNJAB AND ADMINISTRATOR, UT CHANDIGARH, SHRI BANWARILAL PUROHIT ON THE OCCASION OF CONSULTATION WORKSHOP WITH CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS ON NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS AT PANJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH ON 14.08.2022
- PRB
- 2022-08-14 18:10
I am pleased to be here amidst all of you at the inaugural function of “Consultation Workshop with Civil Society Groups on National Curriculum Frameworks”.
As our country celebrates “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” and recounts its achievements, I would like to underscore that education has played a major role in national development and will continue to do so in the future also . It is truly the most powerful catalyst that can change the pace and quality of a country’s development.
As you are aware, India has been the treasure house of knowledge and the cradle of academic excellence since ancient times. In the Gurukul system, education was given utmost importance and the focus was on imparting knowledge and skills to bring out a holistic development of an individual.
In fact, India was once known as Vishwaguru because of its world class international centres of learning like Takshashila, Pushpagiri and Nalanda. Thousands of students, including many from foreign countries, used to study diverse disciplines at these centres. Since ancient times, India made numerous contributions to the world of science, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, among other disciplines.
The beauty of our Ancient Education System was that it focused on the holistic development of the individual. The objective was to develop the students not only in the outer self but also in the inner self. It focused on the moral, physical, spiritual, and intellectual aspects of life including humanity, truthfulness, discipline, self-reliance, and respect for all creations.
As the world is undergoing rapid changes in the knowledge landscape, there is an urgent need to reform education structure and system, pedagogy, and curriculum as per the aspirational goals of 21st century, while remaining consistent with India’s traditions and value systems.
In these changing times, it has become important that childrennot only learn, but more importantly learn “how to learn”. Therefore, the focus of education must shift from only content delivery to developing critical thinking and problems solving skills in the younger generation so that they can become more creative and innovate.
The overall objective of these transformations must be to make education holistic and integrative with learner-centric approach, ensuring accessibility and equity with excellence.
Although all of you are aware, yet it needs to be reiterated that proper linkage between school education and higher education is a must to ensure upturn in transition rates across all sectors of school education.
The curricular areas at school stage provide a feeder to the knowledge domains in higher education . The disciplines, having poor enrolments at the school stage, need to be strengthened to improve the quality and intake in such disciplines so that the higher education system does not remain starved for want of appropriate intakes in those subjects of study .
Interdisciplinary approach to education is a catchword. This orientation to education needs to be attempted through curriculum reforms at secondary education by avoiding insularity of subject disciplines. The current tendency of independent streams like science, commerce, humanities, medical and non-medical need to be merged in such a way that the students can choose from amongst various subjects which cut across physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences and mathematics . This would require a revisit to curriculum practices at the secondary stage which is generic to orientation to higher education. You are all gathered here to deliberate on the Curriculum Framework, I am sure this will be looked into. It may be ensured that nothing is taught in schools which has to be “unlearned” at higher education level .
Friends, students are our National Asset. Believe me! Every student has the potential to contribute, to nation building, in his or her own capacity. They are the future of India. They have the power to usher movement for self-reliant India.
After completing their education they step into the real world. The world they step into is not static. It is like a quivering jelly – moving, shaking and changing. Everyday a new scenarios emerge – some more challenging others a little less.
Only those who adapt, evolve & grow, turn adversity into opportunity . They don’t let their knowledge or skill set to fossilize and transform adversity into opportunity.
This is possible only if the education and knowledge that they have been imparted generates the power of dynamic thinking. By the ability of thinking and applying knowledge to practical problems of life, they can not only extend the bounds of knowledge but also will be able to tackle successfully some of the current economic and social challenges.
The National Education Policy allows students to be more flexible, adaptable and interdisciplinary in nature . As in real life, there will be no separation between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams, it will help eliminate harmful hierarchies among, and silos between different areas of learning, creating a citizen who is able to swiftly move between different challenges.
The National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020) provides an appropriate context and the way forward to pave a way for transformational reforms in school and higher education system in the country . The vision of this Policy is to develop an education system that contributes to an equitable and vibrant knowledge of the society, by providing quality education to all and to develop a deep sense of respect towards the fundamental rights, duties, and constitutional values.
The National Education Policy paves a way for restructuring of school and higher education. It has transformed the regulatory system of the higher education in India by establishing a single regulatory body called Higher Education Council of India (HECI). This education policy provides flexibility at undergraduate level in which students can pursue the course and complete it conveniently without the issue of dropouts. It further emphasizes uponfocussing on competencies rather than the content, application of theoretical learning, inter-disciplinary integration, and focus on value and ethos.
Friends,
To fulfil the goals of National Education Policy, the Ministry of Education, Government of India, has called for the development of a newNational Curriculum Framework (NCF) and the new State Curriculum Frameworks (SCFs) as the core basis for transforming the curriculum and pedagogy of school education in the country. It further requires a successful development of a high-quality National Curriculum for School Education (NCFSE), as well as a high-quality National Curriculum for Early Child Care Education (NCFECCE), National Curriculum for Teacher Education (NCFTE) and National Curriculum for Adult Education (NCFAE), that are in consonance with each other and with the transformations as recommended by the NEP 2020.
I have been told that to make the whole process participatory as well as inclusive, NCERT has decided to organize consultations throughout the nation by creating 10 different Zones.
I am happy that Panjab University as a premier institution in collaboration with NCERT has taken a lead in this direction by organizing a Consultation workshop on National Curriculum Frame works with Higher educational institutions and Civil Society Groups of this region. This consultation workshop will provide a common platform for different stakeholders and will facilitate discussion and will establish linkages between school and higher education as envisaged in National Curriculum Framework.
I am happy to see that Vice Chancellors of various universities and members of civil societies of this region are participating in this event.
You must remember that the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and new State Curriculum Frameworks (SCFs) are the core basis for transforming the curriculum and pedagogy of school education in the country. In this context, it is of the utmost importance thatfor the future of India and of our next generation, a robust and high-quality NCF as well as SCFs are developed.
I hope while designing the curricular frameworks some important aspects will considered for designing the Teaching-Learning Resources like along with Concepts / theory the relevance of knowledge in daily life (i.e. application of learning) should be a part of the resources. Moreover, the Cross cutting themes like: Value Education, Gender education, Inclusive education, Knowledge of India should also be a part of the learning resources.
I sincerely hope that this consultation workshop will come out with specific recommendations to fulfil the aim of making education in India learner-centric, accessible, and ensuring equity with excellence .
All the Best!
I once again congratulate Panjab University & NCERT for organizing this workshop.
Thank you,
Jai Hind.