Academic Planner

Academic Planning and Calendar of Activities

1. National Curriculum Frameworks: NCERT has released the NCF for the Foundational Stage and also the draft Curriculum Framework for School Education. Recommendations and suggestions given in these documents especially the NCF-FS are to be implemented by all• the KVs in the foundational stage.
2. Experiential Learning: The draft NCF-School Education 2023 says that “The central purpose of schools as formal educational institutions is the achievement of valuable knowledge, capacities, and knowledge and dispositions by their students.” (Section 1.3). It further states that the students develop disciplinary knowledge through engagement with the varied forms of knowledge like Mathematics, Sciences, Social Sciences, etc. “While the capacity for problem solving depends heavily on such disciplinary knowledge, often real-life situations pose problems, solutions for which are informed by many disciplines that need to be integrated.” (Section 1.3.3) . Hence, each KV requires to be make specific class-wise curricular plans for implementing inter-disciplinary and integrated learning. The initiatives taken in the past couple of years in the form of multi-disciplinary projects requires to be implemented with renewed focus and vigour. Assessment would continue to include this multi-disciplinary projects carried out by the students.
3. Three Roles of Assessment: The primary role of assessment in the past was to measure the extent of learning i.e., assessment of learning. Whereas, the other two roles of assessment viz., (i) to guide and support learning by the teachers i.e., assessment for learning and (ii) to enable students to become self- regulated learners i.e., assessment as learning. The curricular plan of the teachers should also focus on these roles of assessment too. Usage of questions to probe the learning of students during the classroom teaching and . design of appropriate competency based test items are essential for every teacher in this regard.
4. Supporting Every Learner to achieve Learning Outcomes: Mission NIPUN Bharat has the specific objective of ensuring that every student attains Foundational Literacy and Numeracy before they complete Grade III. In order to provide a systemic support in this regard, a web-based application for recording the student attainment of various ‘Lakshyas’ (Learning Outcomes) was designed and made available by KVS. In the current academic session, it will include Class III and hence at the end of this session, all the KVs have to ensure that the objectives of Mission NIPUN are achieved. Every teacher is therefore required to take into account the needs of students in her/his class and accordingly chalk out a plan. And this plan is required to include not only the curricular strategies for attainment of Lakshyas for the current Grade or Class but also specific intervention strategies to support those learners who are lagging behind in the attainment of one or a few Lakshyas. Suitable templates to aid the teachers in this regard is being made available in the PIMS portal. Similar efforts are to be taken by the teachers for the students of all other classes too.
5. Learning Gaps and Interventions to address them: There is scope for improvement in the academic achievement of students both in terms of quantity and quality. This is true for not only the Board classes but also for the other classes. Hence, it should be the endeavour of all the KV s to specifically pay attention to the learning gaps in their students and draw a suitable plan of intervention help students bridge the learning gaps. Such an exercise should be a regular feature and the ROs need to monitor the activities being carried out by the KVs in their regions.
6. Integrating Skill Education: Certain efforts were initiated in this regard in the last academic session and the same requires to be scaled up in the light of CBSE Circular No.: Skill-01/2023 which was forwarded vide this office letter F. No. DAC 2/1/2020-DC(Acad-II)/Pt(l) dated 25.05.2023. The services of TGT(Art), TGT(WE) and PRT(Music) can be aligned to the extent possible in
   this regard, as the talents of these teachers can be effectively utilized by the KVs. Collation of data of students pursuing skills modules (Classes VI – VIII) and skill subjects (Classes IX – X and XI – XII) by each of the ROs and its effective monitoring at the level of the RO shall also be a focus this year.
7. Competency Based Education: Competency based Education (CBE) offers a flexible, personalised and practical approach to education that can better prepare students for success in the task and in life. CBE emphasises the mastery of specific skills or competencies. CBE allows students to progress at their own pace and focus on the areas where they need assistance and hence . this approach could be more effective than traditional class room-based learning. Every teacher therefore can adopt this approach and incorporate it in lesson plan. Competency Based Assessment (CBA) is part of this approach. CBA evaluates student’s ability to apply their knowledge and skills in real-world situations. CBA typically involves multiple assessments which include written
   examination, practical demonstrations, simulations, projects. Etc. CBA is often designed to be aligned with specific learning objectives and they may be either formative or summative. Thus, the use of CBA in education can help to ensure that students are developing the specific skills and knowledge for their success. In this regard, CBSE circular No. 45/2023, dated 6th April 2023 on Assessment and Evaluation for the session 2023-24 issued for classes IX to XII needs to be strictly adhered to. Further for Class III to VIII minimum 40% competency based questions to be incorporated in all tests and examination in this Academic Year.
8. Co-Curricular Activities: In achieving holistic and well-rounded education, Co-curricular activities play an important role. These activities include sports, music, drama, art and craft, debate, community service and many others. It helps in the development of students and provide them with opportunities to explore their interests, develop skills and build relationships which are essential for success in aspects of life. KVS, besides the activities planned at the KV level, encourage students to participate in activities under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat/ Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and activities suggested by CBSE and other Ministries on special occasions to provide more opportunities. As these activities are suggested to show avenues of opportunities suiting to the interest and skills of the students, it should not be construed as over burdened and take away the academic learning space of students. There are proven theories around the
   world that students who participate more in co-curricular activities do better in their academic learning as well. Hence all KV s have to plan their CCA calendar in such a manner by incorporating these activities and to encourage students to participate and help to realise the achievement of all- round qualities.
9. Effective Utilisation of Resources : Good infrastructure facilities are essential requirements for a school as they contribute to the safety, health, comfort and academic success of students. Providing a well equipped and conducive learning environment is crucial for ensuring student’s success. KVs are the kind schools across the country which have developed structurally sound and
   safe buildings, standard sports facilities, smart classrooms, Computer, Science, Mathematics and Geography labs, Language and Atal tinkering labs, etc. In view of the requirement to improve reading comprehension, availability and usage of age-appropriate reading material in the form of good quality books (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as periodicals needs to be ensured.
   Especially, the periodicals published by the Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting needs to be subscribed/ procured. Additionally, the usage of equipments and accessories required to aid teachers and students to realise learning objectives that have been made available in plenty in the KV s needs to be ensured. It is seen from the past that these facilities were either not maintained properly or underutilised. Hence all KV s have to plan department wise and ensure fair and effective utilisation of resources available in the system. The plan should be reflected in the Vidyalaya Plan 2023-24, which will be checked during panel inspection of the Vidyalaya.
10. Continuous Professional Development (CPD): Since NEP-2020 recognizes the central role of teachers in the curricular transactions, it recommends CPD as an essential measure to support the needs of teachers. Plan of action to be circulated by KVS separately needs to be implemented by all the Regions KVs. The plan outlined above are not exhaustive and the ROs /KVs can plan in all
    other areas of Vidyalaya functioning as per local needs and suiting to the skills of the learners.