No written exams till class 2, assessment should not cause burden for children: Draft NCF

New Delhi, Apr 7: Explicit tests and exams are completely inappropriate assessment tools for children up to class 2 and written tests should be introduced from class 3 onwards, the draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) has recommended stressing that assessment methods should be such that they do not contribute to any additional burden for the child.

The framework which is being developed along the lines of the new National Education Policy (NEP) suggests that two important methods of assessment that are appropriate for the foundational stage are observations of the child and analysing of artefacts that the child has produced as part of their learning experience.

The draft notes that explicit tests and examinations are completely inappropriate assessment tools for the Foundational stage (preschool to class 2).

"Assessment should allow for diversity among children and in their learning. Children learn differently and express their learning differently too. There might be many ways to assess the achievement of a learning outcome or competency. The teacher should have the ability to design different kinds of assessments for the same learning outcome and use each assessment appropriately.

"Assessment should enable recording and documentation. Children's progress should be described and analysed through the systematic collection of evidence. Assessment should not contribute to any additional burden for the child. Assessment tools and processes should be designed such that they are a natural extension of the learning experience for the child," it adds.

Describing the assessment for the preparatory stage (class 3 to 5), the draft recommends that "written tests should be introduced at this stage".

"A variety of assessment methods should be used to promote learning. Portfolios can be used to capture student progress holistically through their work. This could also provide a reliable picture of their learning to parents. Peer and self-assessments could also be introduced to help students monitor the trajectory of their own learning.

"At the end of the preparatory stage, there should be a comprehensive summative assessment of the student's readiness to enter the middle stage where several new curricular areas are introduced," it adds.

The education ministry released a "pre-draft" of the NCF for school education on Thursday and invited suggestions from stakeholders such as students, parents, teachers and scholars.

The draft prepared by a panel headed by K Kasturirangan, former ISRO chief, suggests that at the middle stage (class 6 to 8), the focus of the curriculum should move to conceptual understanding and higher-order capacities.

"Therefore, classroom assessment techniques such as projects, debates, presentations, experiments, investigations, role plays, journals and portfolios should be used to assess learning. Regular summative assessments at this stage will help students synthesize their learning at logical intervals such as year-end, term-end, unit-end. Summative assessments comprising multiple-choice questions and constructed responses like short and long answers may be used periodically," it says.

In the secondary stage (class 9 to 12), the panel has asserted that comprehensive classroom assessments should be effectively practised for facilitating meaningful learning and constructive feedback. Regular summative assessments should be conducted for recording students learning against competencies.

"Self-assessment will play a key role in student learning at this stage. Students should be facilitated to monitor what they are learning and use the feedback from this monitoring to adjust, adapt, and decide their own strategies for learning.

"Summative assessments can be designed using case-based questions, simulations, and essay-type questions to enable assessment of competencies. At this stage, students should also be prepared to undertake the board examinations and other selection tests to gain access to higher education and livelihood opportunities," the draft adds.

According to ministry officials, the textbooks as per the new NCF will be introduced from next year.

The Education Ministry has designed four NCFs based on the 5+3+3+4 ‘curricular and pedagogical’ structure that NEP 2020 has recommended for school education.

The ministry launched the NCF for the foundational stage (NCF-FS) for children between ages 3-8 years in October 2022. In continuation of that policy, the next NCF for school education is being prepared.

Revamping class 10 and 12 board exams, aligning the shift from 10+2 structure to 5+3+3+4 structure and emphasis on developmental perspectives suggesting curricular and pedagogical shifts at different stages - foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary - are among the recommendations made in the pre-draft.

The NCF has been revised four times - in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005. The new proposed revision will be the fifth of the framework.

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Israeli forces invade southwestern Syria, set up checkpoint in Quneitra

News Network

November 24,2025

Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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