New Delhi : The draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education in India, based on the new National Education Policy (NEP), has recommended that explicit tests and exams are not appropriate assessment tools for children up to class 2. Instead, the NCF recommends using observation of the child and analyzing artifacts produced by the child as part of their learning experience. The NCF emphasizes that assessment methods should be designed to allow for diversity among children and not contribute to any additional burden for the child.

For the preparatory stage (class 3 to 5), the draft recommends introducing written tests and using a variety of assessment methods such as portfolios, peer and self-assessment to promote learning. The end of the preparatory stage should have a comprehensive summative assessment of the student's readiness to enter the middle stage, where several new curricular areas are introduced.

In the middle stage (class 6 to 8), the focus of the curriculum should move to conceptual understanding and higher order capacities. The NCF recommends using classroom assessment techniques such as projects, debates, presentations, experiments, investigations, role plays, journals, and portfolios to assess learning. Regular summative assessments at this stage will help students synthesize their learning at logical intervals.

In the secondary stage (class 9 to 12), 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.

The draft NCF recommends that 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 recommended by NEP 2020 for school education. The NCF has been revised four times in the past, in 1975, 1988, 2000, and 2005, and the new proposed revision will be the fifth of the framework.