Why in news:

• Rajasthan government has recently announced that the students of senior secondary classes (11^th and 12^th std) in government schools will study the basics of coding, programming and artificial intelligence (AI) from the next session.

Key Points:

• The introduction of coding classes is part of implementation of the new School Curriculum Framework.
• The state education department is among the first few in the country to have completed the School Curriculum Framework (SCF) as mandated under the New Education Policy (NEP).
• The department has identified 25 areas of importance as part of the curriculum, making 50 hours of teachers' training compulsory every year.
• The new curriculum has laid great emphasis on developing the scientific temperament of students in schools. The syllabus will have modules on coding and programming along with sessions on AI to produce world-class tech grads from the state government schools.
• The previous School Curriculum Framework that came up almost two decades ago has become redundant in the current scenario when it comes to subjects like environment, health, and technology. The evolving issues like climate change, the rapid pace of urbanization, and the disrupting harmony between humans and the animal-plant kingdom will now be part of the syllabus.
• The revised curriculum has given impetus to issues which were remotely touched in the previous School Curriculum Framework. The whole idea is tto create mass awareness on the crucial subjects in order to prepare the present generation to take on the challenges which will impact the world for the coming next centuries.
• The concepts of health will move from treatment to prevention of diseases in the textbooks. Students will be taught the preventive ways to minimise the impact of diseases which are impacting the human resources of the country.
• The most important aspect of the curriculum is to focus on integrating education and technology to make education more scientific and easier to comprehend. The curriculum is focussed on effective teaching by integrating technology with pedagogy, identifying and properly utilizing various ICT tools to be used in teaching learning and assessment.
• The training of teachers in technology and academics is also going to become a regular feature of the academic calendar as per the new School Curriculum Framework, thereby enabling the teachers to provide updated learning experiences to students.
• It is pertinent to note here that Goa was the first state in the country to introduce coding classes for students of government schools.
• In a move that aimed to benefit 65,600 students and 540 teachers from government and government-aided schools in Goa, the State government in March 2021 implemented its novel and first of its kind in India – Coding and Robotics Education in Schools Scheme from the academic year 2021-22.