New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided not to reduce the curriculum for students in classes 9 to 12 for the 2021-22 academic year, based on the new curriculum. Last year, the CBSE had streamlined the syllabus by up to 30 percent for classes 9-12 for the 2020-21 academic year to reduce student course load amid the COVID-19 crisis. Students who have completed the reduced program will appear in the exams that will take place in May-June. Also Read – Latest News April 2, 2021: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Holds High Level Meeting on COVID-19 Cases
According to the new curriculum published by the CBSE, the chapters and topics that were cut in the last academic year have been restored to the official curriculum for the next academic session, 2021-22. “The board already announced last year that the streamlining exercise was a unique initiative, as teaching and learning through online media or alternative methods was fairly new at the time,” said a CBSE official. Also read: CBSE publishes the curriculum for the students of the new academic session 2021-22: see the curriculum for class 10 here
Schools across the country were closed in March last year, ahead of a nationwide shutdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Teaching and learning activities moved primarily online during the shutdown. While some states allowed a partial reopening of schools in October, several states are turning to online classes again in the new academic session amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Also Read – CBSE Board Exam 2021: CBSE Makes a Big Announcement for Students Testing Positive for COVID This Exam Season
In its exercise of streamlining the curriculum, the board had removed the chapters on democracy and diversity, demonetization, nationalism, secularism, India’s relations with its neighbors, and the growth of local governments in the country, among others.
The choice of chapters removed from the syllabus provoked a backlash from opposition political parties and a section of academics, who claimed that the measure was “ideologically driven”, while several school principals welcomed it as a relief to the students.
Last year, the Council for School Certification Examinations of India (CISCE) had also announced a reduction of up to 25 percent in the curriculum for class 10 and 12 board examinations in 2021, taking into account for disruption of learning due to school closings during lockdown. The CICSE has not yet announced its curriculum for the new academic session.
(With PTI inputs)
.
