National Curriculum Framework (NCF) is a major policy document that will bring the spirit of NEP alive and lead schools towards transforming the future of India. This document will be followed while making the new syllabus, selecting the textbooks and establishing new teaching practices.

NCF will be the torchbearer of the overhaul of the Indian Education System and will show positive changes by 2030. NEP principles will be implemented through NCF for each stage. The National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCFECCE) is the one for the foundational stage (3-8 years). It was launched by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on October 20, 2022.

NCF is a well-researched and comprehensive document which has absolute clarity of its goals:

1. Providing early childhood care and education to all the children and initiating their holistic development.

2. Ensuring the overall development of children:

• Physical and motor development
• Cognitive development
• Socio-emotional-ethical development
• Cultural/artistic development
• Development of communication and early language, literacy, and numeracy

3. Play-based learning is the core of the NCF.

All the approaches and methods mentioned in the NCF are collaborating towards achieving these goals, as their attainment will bring the required changes in primary education.

The NCF is a document that has mentioned the framework to be followed in excruciating detail. Everything has been elaborated on in the document, from the aims to be achieved to the methods to be followed. The following are the highlights which capture the main idea of NCF:

• Children should be taught in their mother tongue. This will make their transition to schooling smooth and also increase their learning speed.
• Building positive relationships between teachers and children will make them more ethical, moral and confident.
• There is a four-block approach to be followed for emergent literacy. Hence, the focus should be on oral language development, word recognition, reading and writing.
• The classroom environment should be positive, enabling the children to be their real selves.
• The syllabus should be culturally rooted, more practical than theoretical and diverse with no social, cultural or gender stereotypes.
• Follow theme-based, story-based and project-based approaches to organise the course content to enhance the child’s interest and engagement.
• Adopt the tech boom and utilise audio-visual tools to teach concepts and provide digital infotainment to children.
• To deviate the focus from rote learning, the usage of textbooks should be reduced—more and more use of worksheets and activity books to be followed.
• Provide a healthy indoor and outdoor environment to children. For instance, running blackboards and art corners can amplify learning in indoor spaces, while the sand pits and kitchen gardens can do the same outdoors.

Successful implementation of the above ideas will bring the much-anticipated change in the education scenario of India.

LEAD, India’s largest School EdTech company, offers various learning solutions that are completely in tandem with the NCF.  LEAD is on the winning side of the current technological game and is spearheading the campaign for the digitisation of education  through the following solutions:

• Pre-primary Curriculum: It entails age-appropriate learning content, methods and tools that prepare children for higher learning. It is benchmarked with NEL Singapore and based on multi-modal learning to promote children’s holistic development through an integrated, theme-based learning approach.
• International Education Curriculum: LEAD’s deeply researched and internationally benchmarked curriculum features the best practices of countries like the USA, Canada, and Singapore. It also perfectly amalgamates Indian learning practices introduced by the National Curriculum Framework 2022.
• Digital Classroom Software: LEAD’s highly innovative digital classroom solutions are designed to stimulate children’s senses by utilising digital learning tools at their best. They are equipped with future-forward learning methods, such as smart classrooms, virtual labs, digital repositories, etc., to deliver students a flexible and engaging learning experience.
• English Language and General Awareness (ELGA): ELGA is a unique skill-based programme that helps children learn English faster. It focuses on the five components of English: Writing and Speaking Expression, Whole Words, Phonics, Grammar, and Reading and Listening Comprehension.
• Sampoorna Hindi: LEAD’s Sampoorna Hindi programme upholds both the cultural rootedness and multilingual concepts of the NCF as it leads to the holistic development of the Hindi language in children.