Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has cut down the syllabus for Classes between 9 and 12 by up to 30 percent, human resource development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said.
Nishank said this decision has been taken after discussions with students, teachers, CBSE board and other stakeholders.
A reduced syllabus brings a much-needed relief to students and teachers who have been grappling with online classes amidst the nationwide lockdown since March 25.
The fear was that especially for students giving their CBSE Class X and XII board examinations in 2021, the academic portion would not be completed on time.
"Considering the importance of learning achievement, it has been decided to rationalise syllabus up to 30 percent by retaining the core concepts," he said in a tweet.
After the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 25 post the pandemic, there were concerns about schools being unable to complete the syllabus.
CBSE in its guidelines on the reduced syllabus said that the parts that have been dropped from the curriculum for this academic year should be explained to students so that they can connect different topics.
However, this dropped academic portion will neither be part of the internal assessments nor the board examinations.
For Classes I-VIII, CBSE has said that schools should follow necessary guidelines and academic calendar that will be issued by NCERT.
Moneycontrol had reported about rising concerns among students, parents and teachers due to the syllabus not being changed.
When Moneycontrol had reached out to CBSE, the board spokesperson had said that NCERT will take a decision on this matter.
The HRD ministry has invited suggestions from the concerned stakeholders on the reduction of the syllabus on social media. So far, most of the suggestions sought a reduction in the syllabus by 30-45 percent, especially for Class 10th and Class 12th.
This decision was particularly crucial for students in CBSE Class 10th and CBSE class 12th as their higher education prospects and future career depend on their performance in the board examination.
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