As envisaged under National  Education Policy 2020, Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched Learning - Teaching Material for Foundational Stage in presence of Minister of Education, Smt Annapurna Devi and Dr. K Kasturirangan, Chairman, National Steering Committee on National Curriculum Framework in New Delhi today.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Pradhan said that today is a historic day in making the learning landscape more vibrant. In line with the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, ‘Jadui Pitara’ -a play-based learning-teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3-8 years has been launched today.

Shri Pradhan highlighted that ‘Jadui Pitara’ comprising of playbooks, toys, puzzles, posters, flash cards, story books, worksheets as well as reflecting the local culture, social context and languages is designed to pique curiosity and accommodate the diverse needs of learners in the foundational stage. He also informed that ‘Jadui Pitara’ developed under the National Curriculum Framework is available in 13 Indian languages. It is a giant leap towards enriching the learning-teaching environment and making it more child-centric, lively and joyful for the Amrit Generation as envisioned in the NEP 2020.

The Minister urged NCERT as a national think-tank must leverage technology to translate the materials in the ‘Jadui Pitara’ in all Indian languages and endeavour to expand its reach as well as make it available to all SCERTs for transforming early childhood care & education scenario of our country. These resources should be made digitally available on DIKSHA platform - portal and mobile app. All Foundational Learning material should be in mother tongue, the Minister added. NCERT has developed trainers handbook mapping to panch koshiya vikash and curricular goals of NCF-FS for future training of teachers at Foundational Stage.

The National Education Policy 2020 envisages 5+3+3+4 curriculum pedagogical structure. The Department of School Education & Literacy under Ministry of Education has constituted a National Steering Committee headed by Prof. K. Kasturirangan to develop the National Curriculum Framework for each of the stages. The NCF for foundational stage (FS) was launched by Ministry of Education on 20th October, 2022 and as per the curriculum framework, NCERT has developed and collected Learning Teaching Material (LTM). Accordingly, "Learning Teaching Material" for foundational stage was launched today using the concept of "Jaadui Pitara". It is expected to bring NEP and NCF-FS to practice, in the hands of teachers and students.

The salient points of "Jaadui Pitara" are as follows:-

• CORE transformative aspect of NCF-FS - 'learn through Play'

• Foundational Stage - ages 3-8- learn best and effectively through Play
• Research from fields as diverse as Neurosciences to Education
• Applies to Class 1 & 2 also (age 6-8) - huge shift - children will learn through play, have fun, and FLN will be addressed.

• Learning and Development in 5 domains: Physical Development, Socio-emotional and Ethical Development, Cognitive Development, Language and Literacy Development, Aesthetic and Cultural Development, Positive Learning Habits has been included as another domain of development at this stage.
• To enable play :

•  A wide range of resources to be used for learning and teaching NOT only books

• Toys, Puzzles, Puppets
• Posters, Flash cards
• Worksheets and attractive books
• Local environment, context, and community

• Rooted in life, local context and India

• Jaadui Pitara brings all this to life:

• Range of resources
• Flexibility to accommodate variety and local resources
• Fun

Shri Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education extended a hearty welcome address. Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director, NCERT made a detailed presentation on the broad features of the Jaadui Pitara and its usefulness for students and teachers at Foundational Stage. Prof. Sridhar Srivastava, Joint Director, NCERT extended a vote of thanks

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NB/AK