The Main Recommendations of NCF-2005 on Examination

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005) is one of four National Curriculum Frameworks that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) of India produced in 1975, 1988, 2000, and 2005.

The Foundation offers a framework for creating curricula, materials, and instructional techniques for India’s school education programmes. Prior government publications on education, such as Learning without Burden and the National Policy of Education 1986–1992, as well as focus group discussions, served as the foundation for the NCF 2005 document’s policy recommendations. 21 National Focus Group Position Papers have been created under the auspices of NCF-2005 after extensive discussion.

The state-of-the-art position papers served as inspiration for the NCF-2005. The work and its spinoff textbooks have been the subject of several newspaper evaluations. In NCF 2005, the following recommendations are made:

  • Shift from content-based testing to problem-solving and competency-based assessment
  • Examinations of shorter duration
  • Flexible time limit
  • Change in the typology of questions
  • No public examination till class VIII
  • Class X board exam to be made optional (in long term)
  • Reducing stress and enhancing success in examination necessitate:
  • Shift from content-based testing to problem-solving and understanding. For this to happen the present typology of the question paper must change.
  • Shift toward shorter examinations
  • Setting up of a single nodal agency for coordinating the design and conduct of entrance examinations.
  • Availability of multiple textbooks to widen teachers’ choices and provide for the diversity in children’s needs and interests.
  • Sharing of teaching experiences and diverse classroom practices to generate new ideas and facilitate innovation and experimentation.
  • Development of syllabi, textbooks and teaching-learning resources could be carried out in a decentralised and participatory manner involving teachers, experts from universities, NGOs and teachers’ organisations.