The Policy and Practice of Public Primary Curriculum in India - A study of textbooks in public primary schools of District Morigaon (Assam) and District Medak (Andhra Pradesh)

In: https://doi.org/10.7916/D89887FB

Abstract

The passing of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) provides a new policy context and a new series of opportunities to strengthening the quality dimensions of primary education in India. The Act further reinforces the suggestions made by the National Curriculum Framework of 2005. Given the recent developments where new provisions are put into place for revision of textbooks, teacher recruitment and training, student assessment and tracking, and so on, we hope that this study contributes to the understanding of district-level concerns pertaining to public primary textbooks and the wider curriculum approach. This working paper is second in the series of three research studies conducted under MDEP's first year's commitment to understand and analyze the primary education scenario in the two districts. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of empirical research to study the key gaps and challenges in the policies and practices pertaining to curriculum in public primary schools in our two districts of Morigaon, Assam and Medak, Andhra Pradesh. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations to the local governments and education authorities that it has derived from an assimilation of findings from different sources. It encourages the local departments of education to view educational needs of their region through an integrated approach. It encourages the local offices to partner with other actors in the field to better understand educational quality and achievement and its determining factors: student health and nutrition, textbook design, teacher training, school participation, district level education and budget planning, school environment, and monitoring and evaluation.