A day-long eastern region consultation on the National Curriculum Framework was organised at SOA here on Saturday which was attended by eminent educationists and representatives of civil society groups in the state.

The main objective of the program was to integrate the basic and grass root knowledge and experiences of the civil society in the national curriculum framework. The consultation was organised by the Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhubaneswar, NCERT, New Delhi and SOA in collaboration with the Central University of South Bihar, Gaya.

The NCERT has been pursuing a bottom-up approach for preparation of the national curriculum framework so that inputs provided by all stakeholders could be included in the document to facilitate a national consensus.

The inaugural session was addressed by Prof. P.C. Agarwal, Principal, RIE, Bhubaneswar while Prof. Kameshwar Nath Singh, Vice-Chancellor of CUSB explained the objectives of the workshop.

SOA’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Mahapatra also addressed the workshop as also SOA professor Dr. Basanta Kumar Pati and NCERT professor and Coordinator of the program Dr. Laxmidhar Behera.

Those who participated in the panel discussions included Prof. Sudhakar Panda, Director of NISER, Bhubaneswar, Prof. S.K.Palita, Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Odisha, Koraput, Prof. P.K.Mohanty, Vice-Chancellor of Khallikote University, Prof. Byomakesh Tripathy, Vice-Chancellor of Utkal University of Culture, Prof. Gitanjali Das, Vice-Chancellor of Berhampur University, Prof. Jashobanta Jena, Director of Institute of Mathematics and Application and Dr. Somen Ghosh, Director of Regional Science Centre.

Representatives of reputed NGOs and civil society groups such as Language and Learning Foundation, New Delhi, Save the Children, Odisha, Shikhya Sandhan, Bhubaneswar, CYSD, Bhubaneswar, Aide et Action, South Asia, Action Aid India, New Delhi, Learning Links Foundation, New Delhi, Shikhya Vikash Samiti, Odisha and Tata Trust joined the deliberations.