NCERT planning pre-school curriculum

NEWDELHI: The NCERT is working on finalising a national curriculum for playschools across the country.

Work on preparing the curriculum is under way and is likely to be introduced from 2018-19, officials said.

However, there is no clear policy about pre-schools, and most of them are privately run. Schools follow their own criteria and curriculum.

“There are five pre-schools centres of NCERT and they are already working on preparing not only the curriculum, but the material that should be used by the teachers. For instance, to prepare the student for Class I, many pre-schools end up promoting rote-learning, which is detrimental to theoverall growth of the student,” said a senior NCERT official.

Schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, Kendriya and Navodya Vidyalayas follow the curriculum prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

Officials said the material would be prepared for two years as most students study for this period before taking admission in Class I. The curriculum will also explain how the students should be taught.

“The pre-school centres are conducting researches on how much should students be taught at such a young age. What impact it has on their overall development and growth and whether techniques should be vary for different students. The cognitive and emotional aspects also have to be taken into account,” added the official.