Students enrolled in schools affiliated to the State board will not have to struggle with vast study material in a short span of time during the coming academic year, which will be truncated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has decided to reduce the syllabus and slash the number of chapters in each subject for all classes.
The State government is likely to defer the commencement of the academic year. Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S. Suresh Kumar on Thursday held a meeting with department officials and urged them to frame policies keeping in mind the current situation.
“The Minister asked the department to prepare an urgent action plan for possible omission of excess chapters in textbooks of all classes. A phase-wise action plan based on the possible loss of academic time will be worked out,” said a statement from Mr. Kumar’s office.
- Number of chapters in each subject for all classes to be slashed
- All teacher-training modules to also have module on the pandemic
- Teachers told make videos for all subjects and all classes on ‘Makkala Vani’ YouTube channel
There will, however, be one addition to the curriculum: COVID-19. Students from classes six to 10 will study about the pandemic that has brought the world to its knees.
The government has also decided to ensure that these students will study learning modules of all diseases. Students will also have to take an examination at the end of the year. All teacher-training modules will also have a module on COVID-19 as the education system will undergo a huge change after the pandemic, said a senior official of the department.
In addition to this, teachers have been asked to make videos for all subjects and all classes on the department’s YouTube channel ‘Makkala Vani’. This will be available permanently for students and teachers to refer.
The move to reduce the syllabus has been appreciated by educationists and child rights experts. “It is a thoughtful move by the government as the burden on the children will be reduced. There is no point in conducting online classes and making it stressful for students. Moreover, online teaching is not as effective as classroom teaching and learning,” said Nagasimha G. Rao, child rights activist. He, however, warned that the syllabus would have to be cut with caution so that all the basic concepts are still covered. “There should be no other basis on which the chapters are cut and no politics and discrimination should come to play,” he said.
