New Delhi: The Union education ministry has recommended that students should be taught exclusively in their mother tongue until the age of eight because introducing a new language at an early age “reverses the entire learning process”.The recommendation, for both public and private schools, came in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for foundational stage education, released by Union minister for education Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday, October 20.This new NCF, which applies to students from preschool through to grades 1 and 2, also states that English can be among the second languages taught to students at the foundational level, but fails to specify any particular grade in which it can be introduced.As detailed in a report in the Indian Express, the previous NCF, 2005, also stated that the language of interaction and communication for students at the foundational stage should be the child’s “first language or home language”, but acknowledged that due to socio-political exigencies, English as a second language should be introduced early, either in Class 1 or in preschool.The new NCF also claims that introducing a “new or unfamiliar language” at a young age “reverses the entire learning process”. It claims that a “new” language being taught negates the “foundational experiences, skills, and learning that the child has already accumulated”.Also read: ‘Don’t Force Another Language War’: Stalin Writes to Modi on Shah-Led Panel’s Recommendations“Since children learn concepts most rapidly and deeply in their home language, the primary medium of instruction would optimally be the child’s home language/ mother tongue/ familiar language in the foundational stage. This should be the approach in both public and private schools,” the NCF says.It recommends opting for a “natural, communication-focused” approach using a child’s mother tongue as the “scaffolding” to develop a child’s fluency in other languages.The 2005 NCF, however, noted the problems associated with using an Indian language as the medium of instruction in preschools as teachers would have to cope with learning a number of different languages in the classroom.No textbooks for young kidsThe NCF for foundational education is just one of four such frameworks that would be included in the NCF for School Education, the others being for preparatory, middle and secondary school levels, according to the education minister. The overall NCF for school education is still being developed.The NCF will be based on inputs received from State Curriculum Frameworks and also the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.He added that textbooks and learning materials for children at the foundational stage will be prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on the basis of NCF by January 2023. However, the framework itself recommends against prescribing any textbooks for children between the ages of three and six.“…children of this age should not be burdened with textbooks,” the Hindustan Times quotes the new NCF as saying. Instead, the framework suggests the use of activity books for teachers to guide them in framing activities and “learning experiences”. It recommends introducing textbooks to students between the ages of six and eight while cautioning that education at this level should not be restricted to textbooks alone, and should use additional material such as worksheets, children’s literature and audio-visual resources as well.Additionally, the NCF recommends that the textbooks should include “balanced” representations of gender and community, should avoid stereotypes and foster diversity and should also include regional variations. Further, it advocated for the use of direct and non-direct teaching that “inculcates values such as patriotism, sacrifice, non-violence, truth, honesty, peace, righteous conduct, forgiveness, tolerance, empathy, helpfulness, courtesy, cleanliness, equality, and fraternity”.Also read: Social and Emotional Learning: The Real Gap in India’s Education SystemThe NCF goes beyond curricular issues for students and also recommends how learning environments should be designed for children, advocating for bright, well-ventilated rooms which make students feel safe, and displays for students’ work.It also mentions the panchakosha system for education, comprising sharirik vikas (development of the body); pranik vikas (development of life force); mansik vikas (development of mental faculties); bauddhik vikas (development of the intellect); and chaitsik vikas (development of the spirit), as detailed in the Hindustan Times report.