Riyaz Bhat
Srinagar : In the recently approved National Education Policy (NEP), the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has replaced the structure of the school education with 5+3 +3+4 design.
The four steps include five years of foundational stage, three years of pre-primary schooling, three years of preparatory stage, three years of the middle or upper primary and four years of the high or secondary stage.
According to the new NEP, a copy of which lies with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the pedagogical structure for school education with 5+3 +3+4 design will be split into four stages.
“The curricular and pedagogical structure of school education will be reconfigured to make them responsive and relevant to the developmental needs and interests of learners at different stages of their development, corresponding to the age ranges of 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years, respectively,” reads the revised draft of NEP.
It further reads that the curricular and pedagogical structure and the curricular framework for school education will therefore be guided by a 5+3+3+4 design that includes five years of the foundational stage (Three years of pre-primary school and Grades I and II), three years of the preparatory (or Latter Primary) Stage (grades III, IV and V), three years of the middle or upper primary stage (grades VI, VII, VIII) and four years of the high or secondary stage (grades IX, X, XI, XII)
The NEP states that the foundational stage will comprise five years of flexible, multilevel, play-based, activity-based, and discovery-based learning, continuously incorporating the latest research in ECCE as well as the various time-tested Indian traditions for cognitive and emotional stimulation of children.
The Preparatory stage will comprise three years of education, building on the play, discovery, and activity-based pedagogical and curricular style of the foundational stage, but also gradually beginning to incorporate textbooks as well as aspects of more formal classroom learning.
“There would mostly be generalist teachers during this stage, with the possible exception of some specialist language and art teachers who may be shared across the school or school complex)
The middle stage will comprise three years of education, building on the more formal pedagogical and curricular style of the Elementary Stage, but will see the introduction of subject teachers for learning, discussion of the more abstract concepts in each subject that students will be ready for at this stage across the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities.
The Secondary Stage will comprise four years of multidisciplinary study, and will build on the subject-oriented pedagogical and curricular style of the Middle stage, but with greater depth, greater critical thinking, greater attention to life aspirations, and greater flexibility and student choice.
“Each year of the Secondary Stage will be divided into 2 semesters, for a total of 8 semesters. Each student would take 5 to 6 subjects each semester. There will be some essential common subjects for all, while simultaneously there will be a great flexibility in selecting elective courses including in the arts, vocational subjects, and physical education,” the NEP reads.
The MHRD in the new NEP said that all stages will heavily incorporate Indian and local traditions, as well as ethical reasoning, socio-emotional learning, quantitative and logical reasoning, computational thinking and digital literacy, scientific temper, languages, and communication skills, in a manner that is developmentally appropriate and in the curricular and pedagogical style that is optimal for each stage—(KNO)
