The Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday proposed a uniform core curriculum for Mathematics and Science in all school boards across the country.
Addressing the annual conference of the Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE) at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) office, he said a core curriculum could pave the way for a common entrance exam for admission to professional courses.
The Minister said he could not understand why there should be a difference in contents in maths and science. “Subjects relating to environment, history and others can be different depending on the State and city. But why should Science and maths be different?
“We should set up a system of core curriculum in respect of professional courses. There should be a core curriculum for maths and science. This will ensure the level of uniform and equivalence of quality. Once all the boards agree on this, then there could be a one-time examination for students to enter into the university system.”
Mr. Sibal asked the representatives of different boards to come up with a roadmap on this proposal.
The Minister also noted that the reforms in the education system should be carried out in a way that helped the country transform from being a “recipient of knowledge to producer of knowledge.”
He also urged the representatives of different boards to make a move towards the grading system as soon as possible. He also said that grade system will soon be implemented in CBSE schools.
He also placed the proposal to move away from different State Boards to four regional Boards of equivalent standing for discussion, maintaining that it was “just an idea.”
Mr. Sibal also advocated a three-language system in school education in the country. Schools should underscore teaching of Hindi, English and the mother tongue. It was imperative to ensure that children were fluent in all the three languages. Mother tongue/regional language would help in cultural integration, Hindi in national integration, and English would help them globally, he noted.
