Curricular Research and Material Development

The primacy of literacy and numeracy at primary school changes towards a focus on subjects at later stages of schooling. The higher cognitive levels of students at those levels as well as the historic growth of knowledge bases make the subject matter an important factor. What is to be taught? And how is it to be taught? These two questions with their inter relationships continue to challenge the scenario of Indian education. Eklavya’s efforts towards a holistic change in school education from mid 1980s to 2002 had addressed both these questions along with examination reforms (open book exams) and teacher training.

In the last decade we have been attempting to address these questions further especially as subjects are not static bodies of knowledge, but keep changing through new evidences and interpretations. Knowledge is born out of historic and social processes and has been conventionally shaped for schooling through the roles played by the state, nationalism and citizenship and these continue to be shaped by privatization and commercialisation. Hence the nature of the content of schooling is a negotiation on various influences.

Eklavya has been part of the processes of text book writing in various states of the country. NCF, 2005 with its emphasis on the child and the local in the construction of knowledge, has opened up renewed efforts on text books in the country both at the NCERT and at the state levels. We continue to collaborate with these efforts.

Our efforts on educational change are guided by the dynamism of the subject matter, social realities and pedagogy. CRMD focuses on curricular critique, research, discussions, development of educational materials and text books and the training of educators and teachers. The group is organised on the basis of four subject areas- Science, Social Science, Mathematics and Language.