Shift in Pedagogy: NCERT Launches Month's Bridge Course to Train Teachers in New Syllabi for Class 6

A shift from content to “competencies”; from chapter-centric approach to “curricular-centric”; from whole language approach to “balanced literacy” – major changes in how the new syllabus, aligned with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, will be taught to students beginning with Classes 3 and 6. New books will be released for Classes 3 and 6 by the National Council of Educational Research and Training by April-May, while the organisation will also introduce and train teachers in new pedagogical tools through a month-long bridge course. Routine teaching to fun-based learning, new timetable According to the bridge course document, the content and pedagogy introduced in the new syllabi and textbooks expect teachers to move from “routine teacher-guided activities to fun-based, play-based, discovery-based activities and from assessment of selected abilities to holistic assessment”. “For Grade 6, a new time allocation and timetable as suggested for the middle stage in NCF-SE will be implemented… Since students will be coming to the new class after studying the old curriculum with a textbook-centric approach, once students enter Grade 6, the ideal would be to have a month-long fun-filled series of activities that allows them to enjoy, shed their inhibitions and get involved in simple projects,” the document stated.