Lok Sabha Question No. 229 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-03
Subject: STEM Education
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Amar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 229 ANSWERED ON 03.02.2025

## STEM Education

229. Dr. Amar Singh:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware that storytelling can serve as a powerful tool to demystify complex STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) concepts, foster critical thinking and ignite a passion for discovery;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the initiatives proposed to be taken by the Government to integrate storytelling into STEM education keeping in mind that narrative techniques help children better understand and retain scientific information, making abstract ideas tangible and relatable?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a)  to  (c)  The  Government  recognizes  the  effectiveness  of  storytelling  in  making  children understanding the  complex  concepts  and  fostering  critical  thinking  as  a  part  of  the  STEM (Science,  Technology,  Engineering  and  Mathematics)  Education.  The  National  Education Policy  (NEP)  2020  provides  that  assessments  of  educational  approaches  in  undergraduate education that integrate the humanities and arts with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics  (STEM)  have  consistently  showed  positive  learning  outcomes,  including increased  creativity  and  innovation,  critical  thinking  and  higher-order  thinking  capacities, problem-solving  abilities,  teamwork,  communication  skills,  more  in-depth  learning  and mastery of curricula across fields, increases in social and moral awareness, etc., besides general engagement and enjoyment of learning. Research is also improved and enhanced through a holistic and multidisciplinary education approach.

The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 states that stories are a particularly good medium for learning about social relationships, ethical choices, understanding and experiencing emotions, and becoming aware of life skills. While listening to  stories,  children  learn  new  words,  thus  expanding  their  vocabulary,  and  learn  sentence structure and problem-solving skills. Children with very short attention spans concentrate for a longer time when engrossed in a story. Through culturally contextual stories, we can acquaint children with their culture and social norms and create awareness about their surroundings. NCERT  uses  storytelling  pedagogy  in  almost  every  subject  area  including  science  and mathematics for creating interesting narratives for children. The vision to create a joyful and expressive  learning  environment,  contributing  to  the  overall  development  of  students  and society has led to introduction of Traditional Story telling in the 10th National Kala Utsava, a flagship programme of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSE&L), Ministry of Education (MoE), in 2024. In textbooks developed as a follow-up of the NCF-SE 2023, storytelling  pedagogy  has  been  integrated.  The  Science  textbook  for  Grade  6,  namely, 'Curiosity', and its Hindi version 'Jigyasa', presents concept using storytelling mode.

Web link of textbooks: Curiosity: https://ncert.nic.in/textbook.php?fecu1=0-12

Jigyasa: https://ncert.nic.in/textbook.php?fhcu1=0-12

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