Maharashtra has declared the State Curricular Framework for Foundation State (SCF – FS), a first step toward curriculum overhaul in school education as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, under which the pre-primary sections are brought under the school curriculum with emphasis on learning in mother tongue.
The foundation stage covers children of age 3 to 8 years that includes three years of pre-primary and classes 1 and 2.
The State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT), which is tasked with preparing the SCF based on the recommendations of the NCF (National Curriculum Framework), has readied its draft for foundational stage. The proposed draft has been made public inviting feedback from stakeholders, before final approval.
“The foundational stage covers the first eight years of life, which are crucial for the development of any child. First three years of this life are largely spent at home where learning takes place in mother tongue… making use of home-language is very important in the process of learning at schools during foundation stage,” states the SCF-FS draft of around 350 pages. It also promotes learning of multiple languages at this stage by suggesting to introduce at least two languages but insists on beginning the transition with the familiar language from their respective homes.
According to the SCF, learning in mother tongue is more effective than understanding newer concepts in a language at that age. However, it acknowledges the unavailability of teachers in all languages and proposes a novel scheme of “mobile teachers” with knowledge of local spoken language. According to SCF-FS, newer languages will be introduced with help of home language.
Apart from basic language and numerical training, the SCF-FS focuses largely on physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of children and defines parameters for the same.
“Overall development will be the primary focus in the first three years, while there will be no textbooks for students in the pre-primary section. Instead, teachers will be provided with guidebooks or booklets,” states the draft adding that these booklets would define desired development levels and provide activities to ensure the same.
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While all learning at the foundational stage is expected to take place with playful activities, flashcards, digital infotainment among all; for classes 1 and 2, there will be textbooks with pictures and colours. “More than text, these books will be required to have activities for children studying in classes 1 and 2,” states the draft.
As per the day’s work defined in SCF-FS, the pre-primary section should not be for more than 3 hours 10 minutes a day and classes 1 and 2 should be no more than five hours a day. With inclusion of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), which would cover anganwadis active in the state, the SCF also includes the importance of nutrition of kids.
The curriculum framework for foundational stage also includes safety of children as a part of additional critical areas. It encourages teachers to be aware of acts such as the Protection of Children from Sexual offences (POCSO) Act and its importance. It also suggests steps to ensure physical, emotional safety of children along with providing training on good-touch and bad-touch at the foundational stage.
