CBSE rationalises syllabus by up to 30 per cent for students of Class 9 to 12 for academic year 2020-21
Mumbai: Taking into consideration the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown imposed in the country, the Centre on Tuesday decided to rationalize the syllabus for students of Class 9 to Class 12 studying in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board for the academic year 2020-21.
Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union cabinet minister for Human Resource Development tweeted, "Looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, #CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of Class 9th to 12th."
He also informed that a few weeks ago, he had invited suggestions regarding the reduction of the syllabus from educationists and experts and that the Centre received more than 1,500 responses.
"Considering the importance of learning achievement, it has been decided to rationalize the syllabus up to 30 percent by retaining the core concepts," he tweeted.
The CBSE also issued a statement regarding the matter which noted that the prevailing health emergency in the country and in different parts of the world as well as the efforts to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the loss of classroom teaching due to closure of schools.
"Therefore the Board has decided to revise the syllabi for Classes 9 to 12 for the academic session 2020-21. The changes made in the syllabi have been finalized by the respective Course Committees with the approval of the Curriculum Committee and Governing Body of the Board," the statement read.
It further stated that the heads of the schools and teachers must ensure that the topics that have been reduced are also explained to the students to the extent required to connect different topics.
Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the central government announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.
A nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into effect the next day. While the government has eased several restrictions, schools and colleges continue to remain closed.
