Kozhikode: The NCERT syllabus would be reduced by half from the 2019 academic session as a relief to school students. The announcement made by Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has brought cheer to the students who feel that they will now be less burdened. But a few academics say that cutting down the syllabus will impact the mindset of students who might not take studies seriously. The decision has worried students who concentrate more on competitive examinations.
According to the minister, the school syllabus was heavier than that of BA and B.Com courses. Hence, it was reduced so that the students get time for other activities for their all-round development.
This is the phase of developing cognitive skills, which demands freedom for the students. So a heavy load of syllabus would hinder their overall development, he pointed out.
As per his plans, the students and the teachers would experience half the weight of the syllabus next year. Education must not be a burden on the students. However, examinations and detentions would be introduced.
A few students and teachers have expressed different opinions on the issue.
“I believe the idea is not to encourage laziness in the kids but to allow them to know themselves better and to mould them to face society. It’s high time we give them time to develop their talents and not just focus on their capacity to mug up the texts and score good marks,” said Abhinav Nishith, Class 12 student, Bhavans Vidhya Mandir.
“Although reducing the syllabus will lessen our burden, what should be learnt should be learnt," said S. Aswin, Plus-Two student of Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Chelari, Malappuram. “A decade ago NCERT syllabus was double that of today. That was cut short but questions from those areas still appear for competitive examinations. The new policy might make the situation much worse," he added.
“There are students with different levels of IQ. NCERT or CBSE is a Herculean task even for the toppers. So cutting down portions could give us less burden,” said Shabnam Shakir, 11th grader at Sharjah Indian School, Sharjah.
“It matters how a school moulds their children; syllabus is secondary as half of the syllabus is of no use. Giving more importance to extra-curricular activities matters in the development of a student,” said Mohammed Bilal, a CA student from Chennai.
“The school syllabus is more than that of a graduate,” said Premeela Chandran, faculty of a private school here. Not just the academic development of a student, but overall development is the key towards success. Hence, burdening them with heavy syllabus should be stopped. Studies show that physical and mental growth of a student is hampered by too much work load. This decision should have been taken much earlier, she added.
Thomas Jacob, faculty at Kendriya Vidyalaya School here, said that students could perform better for higher examinations by studying the NCERT syllabus. The intensity of the syllabus is important for a student to succeed, he added.
The minister had said that without examination there is no competition and no target and that an element of competition for better outcomes is a must. Hence if a student fails in March, he/she would get another chance in May. If a student flunks both times, then only he/she would be detained. He highlighted that a Bill introducing examinations and detentions as part of school education reforms will be considered in the next budget session of Parliament.
