In order to ease the lockdown impact on students, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has rationalised the syllabus by up to 30% for classes 9 to 12 for the 2020-21 academic year.
Taking into consideration the rapid spread of COVID-19 resulting in lockdown and eating into the fresh academic year, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and CBSE are working on rationalisation of syllabus.
The students of the schools run by the State Board expected a similar move but the government is exercising caution before taking a call. “To consider a cut in the syllabus, we need to look into the number of working days available. Two months of the regular academic year have lapsed and classes have not yet commenced,” said Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh.
Acknowledging the fact that coping up with such time loss might not be possible, the Minister said any ‘rationalisation’ would have to be done considering the students’ best interests.
The government is of the view that reduction of syllabus in the ‘extraordinary’ circumstances may be the need of the hour but there may be resentment among students and parents at the time of re-introducing the old syllabus after things normalise.“We will take a call after discussing all aspects of the issue,” said the Minister.
Sources in the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) indicated that the exercise, if and when taken up, would focus on reducing the topics or themes that are either repeated or overlapped rather than removing entire chapters. “In any case, the core elements will be retained. The focus will be on learning outcomes,” says an official.
Excess fee
The Minister said to rein in private schools violating norms, district-level squads had been formed to keep a vigil. “These squads comprise department officials will inspect the schools and assess their performances,” he said. Referring to reports of excess fee and other irregularities, he said the School Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission had been asked to identify such institutions and initiate stringent action.
“We are also trying to educate parents by asking them to call the toll-free number and inform the department about any irregularities that come to their notice,” he said.