Delhi government schools to begin pre-vocational classes for Classes 6 to 8
The Delhi government has announced the launch of a pre-vocational education programme for students in Classes 6 to 8 in its schools starting from the academic year 2025–26. The programme, aligned with the National Education Policy and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, aims to equip students with vital life skills and early exposure to vocational opportunities.In the initial rollout, a new subject titled Kaushal Bodh will be introduced in Class 6, gradually expanding to Classes 7 and 8 in the coming years. The curriculum is structured around three key areas: Work with Life Forms, Work with Machines and Materials, and Work in Human Services. Students will be required to complete one project under each category annually, with a total of 110 hours dedicated to these skill-building activities.advertisementHands-on tasks such as organic farming, carpentry, pottery, embroidery, cooking with millets, and basic electrical work will form the core of this initiative. Teachers will play a crucial role in guiding students through these projects, ensuring safety, collaboration, and the application of practical knowledge.
Assessment will include written tests, oral presentations, activity logs, portfolios, and teacher evaluations. School heads are tasked with ensuring proper execution of the projects and supporting teacher training to integrate vocational learning within the classroom experience.To further support the programme, the Directorate of Education will organise Kaushal Melas, where students will present their work through live demonstrations. The initiative is expected to enhance critical thinking, teamwork, and lay a strong foundation for future vocational learning and career pathways.Must Watch
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Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
CBSE mother tongue policy should be implemented through dialogue, not diktat
As of May, the Central Board of Secondary Education has released approximately 30 academic circulars and numerous examination, affiliation and miscellaneous documents. These include assessment guidelines, teacher training programmes, student enrichment activities, curriculum updates and policy implementation. Educators are now grappling with the latest, mandating the implementation of mother tongue-based instruction in the foundational and preparatory stages of schooling. From the Kothari Commission (1964 to 1966) to the National Policy of Education (1968), the Yashpal Committee (1993), National Curriculum Framework (2005, NCF) along with UNESCO, NCERT and numerous global developmental psychologists and even the National Education Policy (2020) have all highlighted the importance of mother tongue-based learning in foundational years (three-eight years). The NCF 2023 directed schools to make the process more structured and explicit, and align it with global best practices. Several studies show that children learn best when taught in their home language because it brings emotional security and concept retention. In fact, it has been argued that learning in an unfamiliar language disconnects the child from real-world experiences, reduces classroom participation and often delays understanding. In places where tribal languages or dialects have been set aside, this step can pave the way towards linguistic equity and educational justice. This is an aspirational policy, but the learning ecosystem is fragmented. In order to implement it in letter and spirit, all stakeholders will have to be involved. Schools can create a language policy after surveying the home languages of their students. With schools mapping language groups and deciding on bridge programmes by allocating resources and teachers accordingly, parents can make an informed choice. In heterogeneous schools, using the mother tongue is not about enforcing one language, it's about embracing linguistic plurality and making children visible. In order to respond through a balanced strategy, parents have to be informed that both the NEP and the NCF support additive bilingualism with strong foundations in the home language along with systematic learning of English. If the mother tongue is positioned as the foundation and English layered in contextually, it will become a bridge. Across socio-economic strata, Indian parents see English-medium education from the foundational years as the key to success. For some, mother-tongue instruction feels regressive. There will be an aspirational mismatch because the mindset behind English-medium education has been driven by media, advertising and peer pressure. Teachers will be left to mediate between parental anxiety and policy mandates, without support or community engagement. Teachers may themselves feel overwhelmed by the push towards mother tongue-based multilingual instruction, especially in heterogeneous English medium schools. Most teachers are trained to teach in English or Hindi, or their regional language and English, not in pedagogical strategies or multilingualism. Handling multiple languages without lesson plans can be difficult for them. Assessment also offers challenges in evaluating learning across languages, especially when tools are monolingual. Teachers are expected to manage language equity, curriculum delivery and concept clarity without training, material, or time. Support, not imposition, is the way forward, if we want multilingualism to become a strength, not a burden. A teacher may speak the mother tongue fluently but may not be able to explain concepts pedagogically in that language. He or she may lack academic vocabulary or age-appropriate phrases. They may not know how to create learning materials or assess learning in the language. Unless they are trained to teach the language, the instruction will not succeed. Parents, too, need to be made partners in this transition. It is important to give them a roadmap of how children will transition in reading and writing fluently in both their mother tongue and in English. A greater load has been added without reducing academic responsibilities. Planning for a multilingual class requires more time, in addition to the regular work that teachers do. If we want children to learn with joy and meaning, then their teachers must be supported with empathy, time and trust. The policy has to be a dialogue, not a diktat. Mother tongue-based education is a vital tool in addressing the global learning crisis. In order for it to succeed, the CBSE and state education departments must move beyond circulars and compliances to systemic support, or the gap between policy and practice will widen. Schools should be given a two-to-three-year transition window starting with oral exposure, creating classroom levels for language mapping, developing multilingual lesson plans, differentiated assessments, resource kits and teaching aids. Oral and non-verbal rubrics that measure conceptual understanding need to be created. Experienced multilingual resource persons should conduct workshops for teachers of foundational years because they need to be partners in reform. A common instructional language should be chosen, while the mother tongue can be taught through songs, stories, language activities, traditional games, audio libraries and AI-driven technologies. Urban schools, especially in metros, are an example of India's internal migration and cultural plurality. Classrooms include children who speak a variety of mother tongues — Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil. Marathi, Kannada and others — within the same learning space. This linguistic landscape calls for context-sensitive handling rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. The policy has great potential but without clarity in execution, it will become merely symbolic. The benefit of the mother tongue in the foundational years can only be realised with the help of supportive parents and trained teachers, who will design it not merely as a linguistic shift but a reimagining of childhood and learning. The writer is chairperson and executive director, Education, Innovations and Training, DLF Foundation Schools and Scholarship Programmes
New Indian Express
a day ago
- New Indian Express
Learning three languages essential for cognitive growth
Languages are the lens through which we look at the world and navigate our lives. Without them, it is impossible for a child to cross the river of education. And with the increasing porosity of borders—both within nations and beyond— global citizenship is not just a distant vision, but a reality. It may not be possible to make good of it without multilingualism. The National Education Policy 2020 made a bold and futuristic statement when it provided for multilingual education through a variety of interventions. They include learning in Indian languages from K12 to PhD, learning more than one language in school, bilingual textbooks, setting up a National Institute of Translation and Interpretation, having departments of translation and interpretation in higher education, promotion of classical languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, and the use of technology for learning and translating. The NEP's provisions for language study in schools are further detailed in the National Curriculum Framework 2023 (NCF), which gives a roadmap for implementation. Note that the NCF uses the short forms R1, R2 and R3 to indicate the hierarchy of language learning. At the foundational stage (three years of pre-school and grades 1-2), only one language, R1 or the language used as the medium of instruction, is to be taught. This language is the choice of the state, but preferably should be the language the child is most familiar with. The child is learning to read at this stage, to be able to read to learn by the preparatory stage. In the preparatory stage (grades 3-5), a second language is introduced—R2, which can be any other language including English. Most schools in most states and Union territories are already following this.
Hans India
a day ago
- Hans India
Teaching methodologies, challenges in higher education brought to fore
Visakhapatnam: Integral Institute of Advanced Management (IIAM) B-School organised a workshop on 'teaching methodologies for Higher Education Institutions-in the context of NEP 2020' at its campus in Visakhapatnam. Bringing educators, academic leaders, and faculty members together to explore innovative teaching practices aligned with the National Education Policy (ΝΕΡ) 2020, the workshop aimed to enhance understanding of NEP 2020's vision and to equip faculty with modern, student-centric teaching approaches that foster critical thinking, experiential learning and interdisciplinary education. SP Ravindra, dean and director of IIAM B-School, highlighted the institution's proactive role in aligning with national educational reforms and reiterated the importance of continuous professional development for educators. The keynote address was delivered by V Krishna Mohan, director general of the B-School, former Registrar, Andhra University spoke on NEP 2020: a paradigm shift in higher education. He explained in detail various innovative processes that were introduced in the NEP through which India can become a knowledge super power. The inaugural session was led by Prof Balamohan Das, former VC of Acharya Nagarjuna University, PS Avadhani, former Principal, AU College of Engineering, among others.
