Missing languages: GSHSEB corrects its syllabus circular

Ahmedabad: It seems that the lockdowns not only inflicted learning loss on students, but also the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB).
In a recent circular on the Class 9 syllabus, GSHSEB forgot to list the Urdu, Persian, Arabic and Sindhi languages. The circular mentioned only Sanskrit. Persian and Sanskrit are classical languages, while Urdu and Sindhi are scheduled languages which are spoken.
After the school managements’ reminder, the board on Tuesday made changes in the old circular on the new syllabus of Class 9 and included the languages it had omitted in the old circular.
School administrators were baffled by this omission and had written to the board seeking a clarification on these languages. The letter by the school management association said that these are languages which are being taught in the schools in Class 9 and exams are also conducted.
The letter said that they are confused as the languages were omitted in the circular by mistake or the teaching of these languages is discontinued. The letter asked the director of the board to clarify and if a mistake has been made then to correct it by issuing a revised circular.
The school administrators had said that the academic year has already started, and the schools have started teaching these subjects. This circular has created a lot of confusion and can adversely affect students’ learning.
Clearing this confusion, the board reissued the circular which has Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Sindhi and Prakrit languages as optional subjects.