Teach in mother tongue until age 8, new language can undo learning: National Curriculum Framework

The new NCF, which deals with pre-school and classes I-II, steers clear of any detailed instruction on a timeframe for introducing English. It states that English can be one of the second languages taught at the foundational level, but doesn’t specify which grade.

Instead, it emphasises the virtues of the mother tongue as the primary medium of instruction, saying that by the time children join pre-school, they acquire significant competence in the “home language”.

“If the child is taught with a new or unfamiliar language as the medium of instruction, the three-four years of experience that the child comes with gets completely disregarded, as a new language is taught from the beginning, at the cost of negating the foundational experiences, skills, and learning that the child has already accumulated, thus reversing the entire learning process,” it states.

“Since children learn concepts most rapidly and deeply in their home language, the primary medium of instruction would optimally be the child’s home language/ mother tongue/ familiar language in the foundational stage. This should be the approach in both public and private schools,” it adds.

“For young children to acquire skills of speaking fluently in their language 2 or language 3 (which could also be English), a natural, communication-focussed approach that also uses scaffolding of their language 1 (primary medium of instruction) needs to be adopted,” it says.

The previous NCF had observed that language teaching is a complex issue in a multilingual country like India, where teachers may be required to cope with a number of languages in a classroom. “Any Indian language used as a medium of instruction in pre-schools, especially in towns and cities, poses problems for children coming from different language backgrounds and dialects,” it had said.

The NCF will set the stage for changes in school syllabus, starting with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The NCF for the foundational stage will be followed by its editions for higher classes, as well as teacher and adult education, over the next few months.

The NCF’s foundational stage edition, however, is not so much about revision of textbooks, but about changes in teaching and learning process. While the medium of instruction forms an integral part, it also focuses on play-based pedagogy and addressing delayed learning.

Pradhan said he expects the NCERT to complete the new syllabus and textbooks for the foundational level by “Basant Panchami” next year. In other words, the government is keen on implementing the recommendations of the report by February 2023.

“And in many cases, textbooks are not required at this level, states the report. It is understandable as most things will be play-based, story-based. The method of teaching will be very important. The report has suggestions not just for students, but teachers as well. We will work on war footing,” he said.

The report underlines that “children in this age group should not be burdened with textbooks”. In the last two years of the foundational stage, or ages 6 to 8 years, simple and attractive textbooks can be considered, it says.

The report acknowledges that currently “there is a learning crisis in India”, as children are enrolled in primary school but are failing to attain basic skills such as foundational literacy and numeracy.

“During 2020-21, of the 19,344,199 students admitted in Grade 1, only 50.9% had pre-school experience. Of these, 24.7% had pre-school experience in the same school, 7.9% in another school and 18.3% in an anganwadi/ ECCE centre, respectively,” it states.