IS REDUCING SYLLABUS BY 30% CORRECT BY CBSE TO BALANCE OFF THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2020-21?

2020, the year full of uncertainties, especially for the students. The school and educational institutes were shut during the lock-down to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 and students were suffering a great loss towards their studies. Although, it was crucial to maintain social distancing to stop the virus from infecting the students. So, the schools and institutes started online classes for the students providing them video lectures, study materials, test series, . The best CBSE school board has helped the teachers and students in every step and launched various digital platforms to make online classes possible. 

CBSE Board has come out with a big step to reduce down the syllabus around 30% than that of the previous syllabus. The step has been taken to balance off the academic year 2020-21 for the students. The CBSE board made the official announcement through a circular on 7th July 2020. The circular addresses all the heads of the educational institutions affiliated to CBSE mentioning all the details on the subject- 

“Revised Curriculum for the session 2020-21”

The circular mentions as listed below for CBSE school – 

“The prevailing health emergency in the country and 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 IX-XII 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 revision of syllabi is a measure taken due to the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and different parts of the world. Considering the importance of achieving the level of learning, the syllabus has been rationalized to the extent possible by retaining the core concepts.

The Heads of Schools and Teachers may ensure that the topics that have been reduced are also explained to the students to the extent required to connect different topics. However, the reduced syllabus will not be part of the topics for Internal Assessment and year-end Board Examination. Alternative Academic Calendar and inputs from the NCERT on transacting the curriculum using different strategies may also be part of the teaching pedagogy.

For Elementary Classes (I-VIII) schools may follow the Alternative Academic Calendar and Learning Outcomes specified by NCERT.

The revised syllabus is available on the official website of the CBSE board. One more notice released on 8th July clarifying the rationale for the reduction in the topics of classes IX to XII. 

The notice for the same is- 

According to CBSE Board, the key features of the reduced syllabus are- 

Retaining the core elements of the syllabus, duplicate chapters will not be there. 

The education will revolve around the learning outcomes rather than exam- based learning. 

20% of the questions will have a connection to the real-life scenario. 

Students have to be in the present day education system as there should be in the current scenario.  

But do you think the reduction of the syllabus to 30% can benefit the students of Best CBSE school ?  

We thought of asking the teachers of Matrix High School, the best CBSE school in Sikar. The teachers at Matrix shared their views on this step taken by the CBSE board. And it was our pleasure to talk to the teachers of the top CBSE school in Sikar, Matrix High School. The students at the school gave their best performance in the 12th Rbse board exams. Matrix High School is one of the best CBSE schools in Sikar. 

According to the teachers at Matrix, the idea of reducing 30% syllabus from the student’s curriculum is not a good idea. Rather CBSE should bring new methods of learning and teaching to finish off the syllabus. If CBSE reduces the curriculum it will affect the students preparing for competitive exams. Students will get promotion  to a higher grade without any proper knowledge. It will also reduce the brain utilization of students. 

So, what should be the alternative to reducing the 30% syllabus by the CBSE board? 

Here are some points to consider. 

1. Change in teaching methods can be there. Teachers can make the learning process interactive.

1. The teachers should give timely feedback to the students after the students attempt tests frequently. This process can enrich the learning process of the students. 

1. The teachers can segregate some topics for self-learning for the students and ask them to learn those portions on their own. This will give relief to the teachers with less burden. Self-learning will build the students for their future studies in colleges. The students are ready for the higher grades where they can prepare notes themselves after the teacher finishes off. 

Consider all these points and make the best use of the technologies to cope up with the current scenario. These features will help the schools to provide the best online study to their students without reducing the syllabus.