Sir,
This has reference to the news item’NCERT syllabus to be reduced by half'(DE, Feb25, 2018).It is heartening to read that HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar, in an interview to Rajya Sabha TV said that the NCERT syllabus will be reduced by half from the 2019 academic session so that the students get time for other activities for their holistic development.The Minister has admitted that the school syllabus was more than that of BA and B Com and it needed to be reduced by half.He has also said that examinations and detention will be introduced as there must be an element of competition for better outcomes.
There is no doubt that our students are the future custodians of our country and the system of education in vogue should be such as prepares them for shouldering the onerous responsibilty of running the country efficiently by being patriotic, law abiding and responsible citizens.For this purpose, it is imperative that the syllabus at each level should be according to attitude, aptitudes and cognitive ability of that level and it should aim at developing qualities such as critical and analytical thinking, better communication, social and problem solving skills and also develop in them a quest for knowledge.But sad it is, our syllabus at school level encourages rote learning and memorisation of facts, affording little opportunity to the students for self study and spending time in library and laboratories and developing other skills which may help them to face life in an efficient manner.Moreover, ‘No Detention Policy’ at the elementery level has lowered the academic standard and needs to debated and done away with. So far syllabus at school level is concerned,only those topics should be included which are relevant and related to development of life learning skills and have employability and market value.Superfluous and outdated topics having little relevance in the modern times need to be deleted.A committee of eminent educationists and child psychologists should be constituted and tasked with the preparation of syllabus of international standards so that our students at school level spend more time in library, laboratories and other indoor and outdoor activities rather than their classrooms to develop skills which help them to gain employment and develop requisite skills and prove their worth and competence at the global level.Last but not least, syllabus should be such as develops higher moral and ethical values in our students in consonance with our rich culture and ethos.
Yours etc…
Ashok Sharma,
Govt Hr. Sec. School,
Thial (Udhampur)
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