NCF 2023: Step To Enhance Students’ Performance Or Stress For The Teachers

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) released by the Ministry of Education recently has brought some major changes in school education. According to the new curriculum, board exams are to be conducted twice a year, students will be allowed to retain the best score and Class 11, 12 students need to study two languages and at least one language must be Indian. The choice of subjects in classes 11,12 will not be restricted to streams, students to get the flexibility to choose. 

Additionally, school boards need to develop capacities to offer ‘on demand’ exams in due course of time and board exams will assess understanding and achievement of competencies than months of coaching and memorisation.

Also, the curriculum says the current practice of ‘covering’ textbooks in the classroom will be avoided and it will help in reducing the cost of textbooks. 

By welcoming this initiative, Sumanta Datta, Managing Director, Oxford University Press India said, “This transformative initiative will empower our teachers and learners to meet the demands of the global ecosystem in the 21st century.  With its focus on competency-based learning, multilingualism and Indian knowledge systems, it will create a more equitable and inclusive educational landscape.”

Along the same lines, Naman Jain, Director at Silverline Prestige School, Ghaziabad appreciated the government’s move. He believed, “Education Ministry anticipates that the new policy will augment the competencies of the students and discourage memorisation at the last minute. The new framework will play an important role in improving conceptual clarity amongst students and ultimately lead to improved learning outcomes."

Conducting board exams is one of the major tasks that schools perform every year. From designing the question papers to conducting exams and final assessments, this process requires a lot of time and effort. The question that arises is whether conducting board exams twice will help students retain the best scores or ultimately place a burden on teachers and schools.

On this, Madhuri has the view that we need to check and see how much of what is said can be implemented because board examinations involve a whole lot of machinery. She said, “There will be more stress on schools and teachers and there are a lot of administrative challenges schools will face.”

But on the other side, Atharva Puranik, co-founder of ‘Padhle’, a K-12 EdTech Platform said, “It will offer a more flexible evaluation approach that can alleviate the intense pressure associated with a single annual exam. Requiring class 11 and 12 students to study two languages, with at least one being Indian, will promote linguistic diversity and cultural understanding, nurturing a well-rounded perspective.” 

“Also, the decision to avoid textbook covering and optimise costs holds the potential to make educational resources more accessible,” he added. 

When it comes to the readiness of schools and teachers to implement this decision, Madhuri said, “We are saying we will examine them twice and the focus will be on the conceptual side but the majority of the schools are only trained to make children appear for questions. The question is, are the teachers ready to implement it if not then this will be a flop show and at this moment, we can't afford it.” 

She believed, “Teachers definitely need training to conduct this kind of examination and the entire teaching pedagogy will need a shift and change because of the kind of questions that will be asked.” 

Consistent with this perspective, Purnaik said, “These adjustments might create additional responsibilities for teachers, requiring appropriate support mechanisms. While the intention is to reduce pressure, the transition could bring forth new forms of stress for students, necessitating careful monitoring and management.” 

According to him, “It will impact both teachers and students in various ways. While the Ministry's intent is to improve the educational experience, the outcomes could be a mix of positive and negative effects.” 

However, students might feel pressure to perform well more frequently. The implementation of 'on-demand' exams could offer flexibility, but students might struggle to manage the pace of exams alongside regular coursework. Whereas the introduction of biannual board exams and competency-based assessment methods could increase teachers' workload due to more frequent assessments and the need to adapt teaching strategies, he further added.