The Kerala State Planning Board may set up a ‘task force on interdisciplinary work-based education’ to provide equitable quality education to all, has suggested Anita Rampal, professor and former dean, Faculty of Education, University of Delhi.
She was presenting a research paper on the topic ‘A Democratic Commitment to Inter-Disciplinary Work-Based Education’ in a three-day seminar on education organized here on Thursday. The symposium was organized ahead of the International Congress on Kerala Studies to be held next year.
Ms. Rampal said the task force would make a major contribution in developing an inter-disciplinary program for work-based learning, along with recommending curriculum integration and areas of intervention in primary schools. He said, “It needs to propose a coherent structure, where the various courses that students can choose from at the secondary level have a synergistic relationship with each other, and a comprehensive approach to ensure practical knowledge or internships.” components,” she said. The task force will need to commission studies that look at the efficacy of current courses, the professional experiences and opportunities they may have given students over the years to understand what are the areas that interest young students.
He said that an inter-disciplinary curriculum on digital technologies, algorithms and social responsibility was the urgent need of the hour. It draws on the areas of digital technology, artificial intelligence algorithms and big data, social networking, sociology and psychology of social media, and investigative techniques to track misinformation, illegal transactions, privacy violations, hacking, cyberbullying and hate. Needed attack.
Ms. Rampal said the new curriculum should be developed through creative engagement that goes beyond rigid, regular subject boundaries, providing an engaging space to learn, enquire, discover, innovate and create collectively. For example, through community knowledge and involvement of fish workers or growers of medicinal plants, and through promotion of local hospitality at the village or panchayat level, in collaboration with organizations working in ecological conservation or biodiversity. A curriculum on tourism can be developed.
Earlier, speaking at another session on the implications of the National Education Policy’s National Curriculum Framework 2023 and choice-based restructured secondary schooling, Ms. Rampal said it offered a minimum education plate to most, failing in many unimportant subjects. It was thinly spread. , which may seem easy to pass but will not ensure depth, criticality of learning and consistent expertise for higher studies.