PANAJI
Goa is preparing to dismantle the rigid boundaries between Science, Commerce and Arts streams at the higher secondary level, with students entering Class XI from the 2027-28 academic year set to get greater flexibility in choosing subjects under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is finalising the structural guidelines and implementation roadmap for extending NEP to Class XI, with detailed instructions on curriculum, assessment patterns and evaluation rubrics expected to be issued to secondary schools by December.
SCERT Director Meghana Shetgaonkar said the committee tasked with preparing the Goa State Curriculum Framework for the Secondary Stage and drafting an action plan for introducing NEP in Class XI had completed its exercise.
“There is a big action plan that we are working on. By December, structural guidelines on the assessment pattern, rubrics and other NEP-related curriculum for Class IX will be shared with all secondary institutions,” she said.
SCERT has divided the secondary stage into two phases – Classes IX and X, and Classes XI and XII to facilitate the transition. Under the proposed framework, students entering Class XI from 2027-28 will be able to choose subjects with greater flexibility instead of being confined to conventional streams, in line with NEP's multidisciplinary approach.
The rollout will be phased, with NEP being extended to Class XII in the 2028-29 academic year to ensure continuity for students who begin the new curriculum in Class XI.
In another significant change, Goa will introduce NCERT-based textbooks for Class IX from the next academic year. The revised textbooks will be extended to Class X in 2028-29.
Although NEP has already been implemented for Classes IX and X, students continue to use the existing textbooks. The introduction of NCERT-based textbooks is expected to bring classroom teaching in closer alignment with the policy's competency-based learning approach.
