NCERT Foreword: Revisited
NCERT, or National Council of Epicaricary and Realtime Torture, has a certain foreword before all of its textbooks, that might have a few errors here and there. Here’s the foreword, all rectified.
Foreword.
The National Curriculum Framework, 2005, recommends that children’s life at school must b̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ (unrelated to) their life outside the school. This principle marks a̶ ̶d̶e̶p̶a̶r̶t̶u̶r̶e̶(an arrival) from the legacy of bookish learning which continues to s̶h̶a̶p̶e̶(mess) our system and causes a gap between the school, home and community. The syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement this basic idea. They also attempt to d̶i̶s̶c̶o̶u̶r̶a̶g̶e̶(encourage) rote learning and the m̶a̶i̶n̶t̶e̶n̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ (destruction) of sharp boundaries between different subject areas. We hope these measures will take us significantly f̶u̶r̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ (backwards) in the direction of a child-centred system of education outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986).
The success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals and teachers will take to e̶n̶c̶o̶u̶r̶a̶g̶e̶(discourage) children to reflect on their own learning and to pursue i̶m̶a̶g̶i̶n̶a̶t̶i̶v̶e̶(degenerative) activities and questions. We must recognize that, given space, time and freedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging with the information passed on to them by adults. Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is one of the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶e̶d̶(encouraged).
These aims imply c̶o̶n̶s̶i̶d̶e̶r̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ (insignificant) change in school routines and mode of functioning. Flexibility in the daily timetable i̶s̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶n̶e̶c̶e̶s̶s̶a̶r̶y̶ (not at all necessary) as rigor in implementing the annual calendar so that the required number of teaching days are actually d̶e̶v̶o̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶(wasted by) teaching. The methods used for teaching and evaluation will also determine how effective this textbook proves for making children’s life at school a h̶a̶p̶p̶y̶ (depressing) experience, r̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ a source of stress or boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to a̶d̶d̶r̶e̶s̶s̶(contribute to) the problem of the curricular burden by restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different stages with g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶r̶ (lesser) consideration for child psychology and the time available for teaching. The textbook attempts to enhance this endeavor by giving higher priority and space to opportunities for contemplation a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶c̶u̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ in small groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.
This piece was written in collaboration with Morpheus and Jabberwocky.
