The Centre has failed to fulfil its assurance to a parliamentary panel that the new school curriculum will be finalised by 2022, raising doubts about the arrival of fresh textbooks before the next academic session.

The Rajya Sabha Committee on Government Assurances headed by M. Thambidurai of the AIADMK has urged a national steering committee headed by former Isro chairman K. Kasturirangan to complete the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) soon.

The education ministry had set up the Kasturirangan panel in September 2021 for the preparation of four NCFs — on school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education. However, the committee has only prepared the NCF for early childhood care and education.

Textbooks for pre-primary and Classes I and II for this curriculum are being prepared. However, the NCF for Class III and above, which come under school education, is still under preparation.

The Committee on Government Assurances of each House examines the promises made by ministries in replies and statements in Parliament.

On February 2, 2022, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy had asked about the status of new school and college textbooks on India’s ancient and recent history.

The minister of state for education Annpurna Devi replied that consequent to the announcement of the National Education Policy, 2020, the new NCF for school education was under preparation.

The parliamentary panel asked for the implementation report on the NCF. In July 2022, the department of school education and literacy under the ministry of education stated that the new NCF would be ready by 2022-end. The committee observed that the preparation of the NCF is imperative to achieve the goals envisaged under the National Education Policy.

“The Committee recommends the National Steering Committee to expedite and complete the process for development of NCF in a timebound manner while taking into consideration the views of concerned stakeholders and furnish a revised Implementation Report incorporating the details of development that had taken place regarding the NCF,” the Committee on Government Assurances said. Prof. Anita Rampal, former dean of faculty of education, Delhi University, said it takes about three years to prepare textbooks for all classes.

The last time the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) had prepared an NCF was in 2005. After that, the syllabus was developed by the subject committees. Subsequently, in three phases, all the books were prepared and printed by 2008.

Rampal said the NCF for school education was crucial for the NCERT and its process of textbook development.

“Even if the steering committee expedites the process of NCF preparation, the syllabi committees will need to be in place. It is not clear when the set of textbooks for the first phase of classes will be ready, and when the teacher orientation will get done, or whether children will get the new books before the 2024 academic session,” Rampal said.

Parliamentary polls are due in 2024 and governments usually do not roll out new textbooks ahead of a general election.

An educationist who did not wish to be identified said the curriculum and textbooks should be ideally revised once in five years.

When the NDA government came to power in 2014, it was expected that a new curriculum and textbooks would be prepared.

However, more than eight years have passed without having a new full curriculum for the school system.