The CBSE School Curriculum gets its lead from National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005) and also from Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE 2009).
National Curriculum Framework 2005
The paramount guiding principles as proposed by NCF-2005 are
• connecting knowledge to life outside the school,
• ensuring that learning is shifted away from rote methods,
• enriching the curriculum to provide for overall development of children rather than remain textbook centric,
• making examinations more flexible and integrated into classroom life and,
• nurturing an over-riding identity informed by caring concerns within the democratic polity of the country.
According to NCF 2005 the greatest national challenge for education is to strengthen our participatory democracy and the values enshrined in the Constitution. Meeting this challenge implies that we make quality and social justice the central theme of curricular reform. Citizenship training has been an important aspect of formal education. Today, it needs to be boldly reconceptualised in terms of the discourse of universal human rights and the approaches associated with critical pedagogy. A clear orientation towards values associated with peace and harmonious coexistence is not only desirable but also essential. Quality in education includes a concern for quality of life in all its dimensions. This is why a concern for peace, protection of the environment and a predisposition towards social change must be viewed as core components of quality, not merely as value premises.
Aims of Education
The Aims of Education are landscaped in the guiding principles of constitution which reflect a commitment to democracy and the values of equality, justice, freedom, concern for others' well-being, secularism, respect for human dignity and human rights. Education should aim to build a commitment to these values, which are based on reason and understanding. The curriculum, therefore, should provide adequate experience and space for dialogue and discourse in the school to build such a commitment in children.
Independence of thought and action points to a capacity of carefully considered, value-based decision-making, both
independently and collectively. Sensitivity to others' well-being and feelings, together with knowledge and understanding of the world, should form the basis of a rational commitment to values.
Learning to learn and the willingness to unlearn and relearn are important as means of responding to new situations in a flexible and creative manner. The curriculum needs to emphasise the processes of constructing knowledge.
Choices in life and the ability to participate in democratic processes depend on the ability to contribute to society in various ways. This is why education must develop the ability to work and participate in economic processes and social change. This necessitates the integration of work with education. We must ensure that work-related experiences are sufficient and broad-based in terms of skills and attitudes, that they foster an understanding of socio-economic processes, and help inculcate a mental frame that encourages working with others in a spirit of cooperation. Work alone can create a social temper. Appreciation of beauty and art forms is an integral part of human life. Creativity in arts, literature and other domains of knowledge is closely linked.
Education must provide the means and opportunities to enhance the child's creative expression and the capacity for aesthetic appreciation. Education for aesthetic appreciation and creativity is even more important today when aesthetic gullibility allows for opinion and taste to be manufactured and manipulated by market forces. The effort should be to enable the learner to appreciate beauty in its several forms. However, we must ensure that we do not promote stereotypes of beauty and forms of entertainment that might constitute an affront to women and persons with disabilities.
(adopted from NCF 2005)