COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM & SYLLABUS-FOUNDATIONAL STAGE-3-8 YEARS

Implementation of National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage-2022

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for the Foundational Stage is developed based on the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and to enable its implementation.

The Foundational Stage refers to children in the age group of 3 to 8 years, across the entire range of diverse institutions in India. This is the first Stage in the 5+3+3+4 Curricular and Pedagogical restructuring of School Education as envisioned in NEP 2020.

This is the first ever integrated Curriculum Framework for children between ages 3-8 in India. It

is a direct outcome of the 5+3+3+4 ‘curricular and pedagogical’ structure that NEP 2020 has come out with for School Education.

The Foundational Stage envisions an integrated approach to Early Childhood Care and Education; for children between ages 3-8. The transformative nature of this phase of education is expected to qualitatively improve the contents and outcomes of education, thereby, impacting the lives of our children towards a better future. All studies and research related to the early period of development of a child, unambiguously leads to the conclusion that high-quality care and education during this period has a lifetime of positive consequences for all individuals and thus, the nation. ( K Kasturirangan, Chairperson)

As articulated in NEP 2020, National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage, uses ‘play,’ at the core of the conceptual, operational, and transactional approaches to curriculum organization, pedagogy, time and content organization, and the overall experience of the child.

Children learn best through play, hence learning envisaged by the National Curriculum Framework will provide stimulating experiences for the child’s development in all dimensions – cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and will also enable the achievement of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all our children.

The NCF has an institutional focus, the importance of the home environment cannot be overemphasized – including family, extended family, neighbours, and others in the close community – all of whom have a very significant impact on the child, particularly in this age cohort of 3-8 years. Hence, this NCF will deal with the role of teachers as well as parents and communities in enabling and enhancing the developmental outcomes that are sought during this stage.

https://ncert.nic.in/pdf/NCF_for_Foundational_Stage_20_October_2022.pdf

Download COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM & SYLLABUS FOUNDATIONAL STAGE-NCF-2022- AGE  3 TO 8 YEARS- NEP 2020

Vision & Mission for 21st Century Learners

Our young children strive to be: • Happy and healthy • Inquirer • Confident • Communicative • Creative • Caring • Open-minded • Resilient • Sensitive to diversity • Respectful • Mindful • Life-long learner

Broad objectives of the Early Childhood Care and Education programme are to:

• Ensure each child is valued, respected, feels safe and secure and develops a positive self concept

• Enable a sound foundation for physical and motor development of each child- as per each child’s potential

• Imbibe good nutrition routines, health habits, hygiene practices and self help skills

• Enable children for effective communication and foster both receptive and  expressive language

• Promote development and integration of the senses

• Stimulate intellectual curiosity and develop conceptual understanding of the world around by providing opportunities to explore, investigate and experiment

• Enhance development of pro-social skills, social competence and emotional well being

• Develop sense of aesthetic appreciation and stimulate creative learning processes.

• Imbibe culturally and developmentally appropriate behaviour and core human values of respect and love for fellow human beings.

• • Enable a smooth transition from home to ECCE centre to formal schooling • Enhance scope for overall personality development

Early Childhood Care and Education

Why Early Childhood Care and Education is so important in education?

Providing high quality preschool education in an organised setting for children above 3 years of age is one of the key priorities of NEP 2020.

Up to age 3, the home environment is (and should remain) almost the sole provider of adequate nutrition, good health practices, responsive care, safety and protection, and stimulation for early childhood learning i.e., everything that constitutes and forms the basis for ECCE. After the age of 3, these components of nutrition, health, care, safety, and stimulation must continue at home, and must also be ensured in an appropriate and complementary manner in institutional settings such as Anganwadis and preschools.

The first eight years of a child’s life are truly critical and lay the foundation for lifelong well-being, and overall growth and development across all dimensions – physical, cognitive, and socio emotional.

Brain development is most rapid in the first eight years of a child’s life, indicating the critical importance of cognitive and socio-emotional stimulation in the early years.

Children naturally take to play-based activity in the early years. Children exposed to age-appropriate, physical, educational, and social activities through play-based methods learn better and grow better.

• In fact, it is widely accepted that from brain development to school-preparedness, improved learning outcomes, equality and justice, employability, and the prosperity and economic growth of the country – India must invest in accessible and quality ECCE for all children, with proper oversight and light regulation to ensure high quality developmentally appropriate stimulation for all children.

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