Shankar Mahadevan, Sudha Murty in NCERT committee

To finalize the curriculum, textbooks, and learning materials for classes 3 to 12 NCERT has formed a group that includes author and Infosys Foundation chair Sudha Murthy, singer Shankar Mahadevan, and economist and member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Sanjeev Sanyal. According to an internal note of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), a copy of which has been seen by HT, the 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) will be led by MC Pant, chancellor of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA).

As part of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the committee will make efforts to align the curriculum with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) developed by the steering group headed by K Kasturirangan. The Union Ministry of Education has already received the final NCF-SE, although it has not yet been made available to people in general. The framework's draft was made public in April.

Manjul Bhargav, a professor of mathematics at Princeton University, serves as one of the committee's co-chairs. Other members of the group include badminton player U Vimal Kumar, mathematician Sujatha Ramdorai, MD Srinivas, chair of the Centre for Policy Studies, and Chamu Krishna Shastry, chair of the Bhartiya Bhasha Samiti.

“CAGs will assist NSTC to develop textbooks and learning material for each of the subjects included in the syllabus. NSTC will be free to invite other experts for advice, consultation, and support,” this person added, requesting anonymity.

A senior ministry official stated that the committee's members were chosen from experts in multiple fields and that the committee's chairperson will now form numerous Curriculum Area Groups (CAGs) by consulting with various subject experts.

According to Chamu Krishna Shastry, 11 CAGs will be established to work on the 11 subjects listed in the NCF-SE, including science, mathematics, physical education, and the social sciences. “More than 1,000 subject experts will be engaged in the process of curriculum development and textbook designing.”