NIOS : The Way Forward - The National Institute of Open Schooling

6 / NIOS: The Way Forward
such diversity, it is neither feasible nor educationally desirable to have a uniform
curriculum for the whole country. On the other hand, it is also necessary to
have a degree of commonality across the country to promote national
integration and a feeling of fraternity. It will mean that a certain core remains
common for all the systems, whether formal or Open, while the remaining
part of the curriculum would offer scope for responding to the cultural,
geographic and other differences obtaining in various parts of the country
and to respond to the needs of the specific learner clientele. In order to do so,
it has to meet certain norms and basic principles that guide its curriculum,
namely flexibility, relevance, credibility and balance. The epochal changes
that are taking place in society call for a major shift in curriculum reform, since
education serves as a foundational resource for transformation of persons
and through them of society, empowering both to deal with the new realities
and conditions.
1.3.3 Flexibility
This flexibility is all the more necessary in the Open Education system, so that
the learner can make choices to suit one’s needs and conditions. This will
refer to the choice of subjects for study and so, not forced to take a set of
subjects as prescribed in the formal system. Since equivalence and quality
are non-negotiable, the Open System must ensure these while allowing the
learners to exercise their choices. For a young adult learner, this freedom
may also include choice of one or more vocational or technical courses, along
with academic courses.
The increased use of ICT is expected to further widen the spectrum of
flexibilities in the ODL system. The institution-based Personal Contact
Programme (PCP) may get replaced, in some measure, in due course of time
by virtual classrooms or online learning. In place of written assignments, the
learners may get an opportunity to submit their assignments on line.
1.3.4 Relevance
Whatever the system one follows, the curriculum must be relevant to the needs
of the individual learners and meet societal needs. A subject or a modular
course or a unit within an academic or vocational subject must pass the test of
relevance, which may be based on the usefulness and potential of a course to
meet the objectives of education per se or to meet the personal goals of an
individual learner. These personal goals may include the desire to improve
one’s present level of occupational competencies, the desire to have certain
essential life skills, the desire to enhance one’s level of general awareness
about the world and about the cultural heritage of India, and development of
appreciation for various art forms etc.. Every course that is provided in the
system must pass the test of relevance. Flexibility coupled with relevance
must constitute the two essential characteristics of the curriculum.