The Hindu : New Delhi News : Crafts and design to find place in new NCERT curriculum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Crafts and design to find place in new NCERT curriculum

Staff Reporter

Initially in over 100 CBSE schools

NEW DELHI: Having got the green signal from the National Monitoring Committee, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will introduce “Indian Crafts” and “Graphic Design” in schools at the senior secondary level from the next academic year.

The two multidisciplinary subjects -- which will be open to students from all streams -- will be introduced initially in over 100 Central Board of Secondary Education-affiliated schools across the country.

“At its meeting on September 25, the Committee approved the syllabus for the two subjects and now the second step is to write the textbooks. We are now looking at around 100 schools, but we are sure that since both the subjects are very closely associated with society and hence interactive, they will get a good response,” said Sunil Kumar, Reader in NCERT’s Department of Education in Art and Aesthetics.

“Indian Crafts” will be taught as a theoretical social science with a strong component of field study and applied creative activity, while constant interaction with professionals will be one of the vital aspects of “Graphic Design”.

“Some of the traditional Indian crafts are dying. The course is aimed at reviving them. Through the new subject, we want to introduce Indian culture through the crafts to students. With the learning of crafts traditions many skills could be developed among them. They will understand the critical role of the crafts community and its integral relationship with society. This will enable students to explore the linkages between tradition and contemporary trends, form and function, creator and consumer,” said Jyotsna Tiwari, a lecturer with the department.

The students will need to do an internship in the form of field study under “Indian Crafts” where they will be required to work with craftsmen and live with them for a short duration to understand the social structures they function in and issues related to environment and resource management.

Under “Graphic Design”, students will learn skills on how to use digital tools as a powerful means of communication for creation, modification and presentation. “Indian Crafts” will have a theory component of 40 marks and 30 marks each will be reserved for field study and applied craft, while “Graphic Design” will be mostly practical-oriented. Practical learning will be assigned 70 marks and 30 marks are for evaluation. The 70 marks in practical are further bifurcated into class projects (50) and portfolio submission (20).

The NCERT will soon start an orientation programme for teachers handling the course in their schools, while the composition of the textbook development committee for the two subjects is still being decided.

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