India has a rich tradition of nurturing the holistic development of children during their most formative years. These traditions provide for complementary roles for the immediate family, the extended family, the community and formal institutions of care and learning. In addressing the first eight years of a child's life, this holistic approach-which includes the cultivation of sanskar which are passed on from generation-has a critical and positive lifelong influence on every aspect of a child's growth, health, behaviour, and cognitive capabilities in the later years.
Considering the importance of the early years in a child's lifelong development, the National Education Policy 2020 (ΝΕΡ 20201 envisioned a 5+3+3+4 curricular and pedagogical structure as providing a much needed focus on formal education and childcare in the country during the first five years corresponding to ages 3-8, naming it the Foundational Stage. During the ages 3-6 years, a child's holistic growth will be taken care of in Balvatika which is an individual's lifelong learning, social and emotional behaviour, and overall health depending deeply upon the experiences gained during this critical Foundational Stage.
The Policy thus recommended developing a National Curriculum Framework specifically for this stage, which would comprehensively guide the whole education system toward providing high-quality education in children's early years, thereby carrying this momentum forward to the other later stages of school education. Based on the principles and objectives enunciated under NEP 2020-as well as on research from a range of disciplines (including Neuroscience and Early Childhood Education), on experiences and accumulated knowledge from the ground, and on the aspirations and goals of our Nation-the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational State (NCF-FS) was developed and released on 22 October 2022.
The National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) recommends early childhood care and education to be rooted in Indian culture and ethos. It also focuses on integrating the children's experiences at home with the knowledge, skills and attitudes which would be developed within the precinct of the school. This marks a departure from the prevailing system of merely learning from books to a more congenial play-way and competency-based learning system, where children's engagement with what they do and learn becomes more critical.
The success of NCF-FS, 2022 would obviously depend on the steps, that anganwadis, schools and concerned institutions will take to develop appropriate competencies for children at this stage.
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