'160 working school days in Manipur, Bihar has 253'

NEW DELHI, May 17 (Agencies):  An NCERT study reveals that only half the states have adopted the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), which has resulted in variations in number of working days, time allotted for teaching subjects like mathematics and science and evaluation of learning levels.

For instance, the number of working days for school children varies from 160 days in Manipur to 253 in Bihar and Jharkhand, while the number of periods teaching different subjects ranges from 19 in Madhya Pradesh to 54 in Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana. Variations in teaching subjects like mathematics are even starker. At a primary school level, students were taught mathematics at a maximum of 12 periods in a week in Andhra Pradesh, while only five classes were taken in Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. At the secondary level, Odisha students had only four classes of mathematics, while Arunachal and Uttarakhand had a maximum of nine classes.

The study reviewed the implementation of the NCF 2005, with focus on the structure of different school stages, approaches of teaching different subjects, time allotted for annual examination and mechanism for evaluation of curriculum.

Learner evaluation marks were used in 21 states and Union Territories (UTs) and continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) was followed in only 17 states and UTs.

The study also found that curriculum and textbooks developed by NCERT in light of the NCF was followed only in 15 states and UTs, whereas 14 states and UTs had adapted the NCERT curriculum, syllabus and textbooks. The report said, "There are lots of variations in implementation of the NCF-2005 in terms of structure, working hours, recess periods, teaching of different subjects, evaluation pattern at primary, upper primary and secondary stages in different states and UTs."

The report suggests that states be provided with academic and financial support by the HRD ministry and NCERT to create a common structure of education in the first 10 years of schooling, an integrated approach to social science and science and a structured introduction of the CCE grading system.