Foundation stage 1 under NEP from July 3
PANAJI
The State of Goa will be implementing National Education Policy recommendations for the foundation stage that will begin from July 3, a month later than the current academic year that begins from June 5. Stating this Education Secretary Prasad Lolayekar briefed on the preparations that have been done and are still underway in an interview with the Prudent Media editor Pramod Acharya.
Q: The current academic year will begin in less than a fortnight. Are you prepared to implement the NEP 2020 changes from this academic year (2023-24) itself? What would the child be experiencing that’s different than previous education system?
A: In Goa, we have already implemented many of the things that are expected to start under the NEP. There are two parts – school education and higher education. In higher education we have initiated a research foundation, prepared digital content, translated content material in Konkani and Marathi, implemented faculty development programme etc.
For school foundation stage level we have started training teachers for the classes that would begin with age 3 – nursery, KG 1, KG 2, 1st and 2nd std. Earlier, nursery, KG 1 and KG 2 were not recognised and approval to run these was not needed. But now these are included in the academic framework as foundational education. Here there would be no textbooks. Teaching would be through play methods, activities etc in a subtle manner. The child would not even realise that (s)he is learning. We would be starting the NEP implementation for foundation stage 1 from July 3, not June 5 with the regular academic year, as it would give us some breathing space to see if things are running smooth. The delay of a month is only to implement NEP. Currently the teachers’ training, masters’ training is on. The foundation stage 2 for KG 1, KG 2, 1st and 2nd can start from the regular date of June 5.
Q: What about the curriculum?
A: For preparatory, middle and secondary stage there is a specific syllabus. But for foundation stage there is a broad curriculum. The NCERT has already prepared the curriculum and it is available for all. From July 3, we would be adopting NCERT curriculum as it is. Only thing is we would make the Konkani and Marathi translations of it available to teachers. To include State-specific material in NCERT curriculum a state-level committee is already being selected under Anil Samant to have State-specific material included in it. This is because we need to make our children relate to our culture, festivals, nature etc, while learning.
The physical, cognitive, emotional, social, moral growth in these formative, crucial years of life would be at this stage. The Eastern concept from the Taittiriya Upanishad of the development of Annamaya Kosh, Pranamay Kosh, Manomaya Kosh, Vidnyanmaya Kosh and Anandmaya Kosh go similar with the Western concept. These would be adopted to make children learn logical, language and cognitive skills for their holistic development. We would try to have this type of development in the 3-8 years of age. After which there would be evaluation of their skills after five years of learning. But this evaluation would not be through exams. The child would not even know that he is being evaluated. But we have to put this system of evaluation in place. There would be no exams, and no textbooks. A panel is formed to evaluate these children when they complete five years of learning.
Q: What would the child going to class I or II do this year? Would the child be going through this system of no textbooks and learn through play method?
A: The child who is in std 1 or 2 would continue to be in our regular system. We have not withdrawn textbooks as of now, for these classes. Because the teachers should know how to teach without textbooks. Otherwise, the child will be at a loss. So to avoid this, we have given freedom to the schools to retain the textbooks, however if any teacher is willing to adopt to the new teaching method (without textbooks) he/she is free to do that. But for nursery, KG 1 and KG 2 will have no books from this year. We are focussing on foundation 1 and foundation 2 this year, but next year we would be implementing other levels and probably withdraw books of std 1 and std 2.
Q: What about the teachers? How would they teach if specific curriculum is not available?
A: Though there would not be any books for the students, the teachers would have a base of reference material, handbooks etc, depending upon which they would develop their own methods of teaching. That’s why we are stressing more on teachers’s training. We have already started training of 100 master trainers. The training for the teachers would not end in a year or two. It would continue for several years. They have to be brought out of the old system of teaching which may take few years. We have to change their mindset.
There are around 3000 institutions at pre-primary level and all of them may not be able to implement the NEP process from July 3. Some may take August, September too. However, we intend to compete the entire process by 31 May, 2025. Of course, it would depend on the teachers too, how fast they grasp the process of teaching in the new format. Unless all the stakeholders come together the implementation of NEP would not be possible.
Q: Do we have sufficient master trainers to teach other teachers? And would they learn by July 3?
A: Not necessary. That’s why we have taken this time as a breathing space. To teach on the foundation level, a different type of skill is necessary. We would not ask the current teachers to discontinue teaching, but to remain in teaching, they have to adopt and embrace the new teaching methodology. They have to prove their relevance in today’s context. That’s why continuous training is the only option we see today.
The stages after foundation stage are preparatory stage (std 3, 4, 5) middle stage (std 6, 7, 8) and secondary stage (std 9, 10, 11, 12).
