PANAJI
It is final. Goa’s school education system is making a leap to climb on to the National Education Policy (NEP) system and a start will be made in the upcoming academic year beginning in June at Class IX.
Next year, classes III and VI will also transition into the NEP system and thus by 2027-28, the entire school education system in Goa will be fully compliant with the new policy when the Education Department will begin the academic restructuring to give it the intended 5+3+3+4 structure, Education Secretary Prasad Lolayekar, IAS, said on Tuesday.
The physical restructuring of school premises will be introduced by the Education Department from 2027-28 into the Foundational Stage (five years from nursery to class II), Preparatory Stage (three years from Class III to V), Middle Stage (three years from Class VI to VIII) and Secondary Stage (Four years from Class IX to XII), Lolayekar said.
The Goa Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE) will also adopt the national curriculum framework and the national credit framework which are detailed on the website of National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT).
As per the scheme under NEP, Class IX students this year will have three languages with equal weightage of four credits each, while Mathematics, Science and Social Science will have five 5 credits each.
The two additional subjects being introduced are: 1) Interdisciplinary (Environment Education, Junior Red Cross, Scouting and Guiding, NCC, Financial Literacy and Electoral Awareness); 2) Skill based vocational education.
Interestingly, the examination papers for all subjects in Class IX will be set by GBSHSE but the evaluation will be done by the schools themselves with a two-semester format.
Also, there could be a tweak in regulation hours for schools who have been given the flexibility to begin classes in the morning a little later than the current 8 am but the total instructional hours need to remain the same and the duration of each period for classes VI to X has to be made 40 minutes.
Students are also to be engaged by the school at least twice a week in the afternoon from 2.15 pm to 4.10 pm, extra time which may be utilised for Interdisciplinary areas, vocational subjects and practicals.
Lolayekar was accompanied at Tuesday’s news conference to announce finer details of the plan to introduce the NEP system in Class IX this year by GBSHSE chairman Bhagirath Shetye, Director of Education, Shailesh Zingde and Meghana Shetgaonkar Director, SCERT.
Also present were Kanta Patnekar who heads the State-government appointed steering committee for NEP implementation at the school level and former Board chairman Jose Rebello who heads the State Curriculum Framework Committee for the secondary stage.
