THE CISCE DECISION
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination CISCE, more commonly known as ICSE Board has announced the reduction of the syllabus by up to 25%. This reduction in the syllabus applies to classes Xth and XIIth. For the students, appearing for the ICSE, ISC board exams to be conducted in 2021. The board took this decision to counter the time being laid off due to the nation-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The CISCE reduced the syllabus for the classes Xth and XIIth. Being aware of the fact that during the lockdown a huge amount of time was cut short. Thus, the board decided to reduce the burden over the students and the school faculties, by reducing the amount of syllabus structure by up to 25 per cent. This forward-thinking will help the children to cope up their studies without getting burned out completing all the other school chores.
THE CISCE BOARDS: ICSE & ISC
The ICSE and ISC board have provided guidelines about the revision of the syllabus to all their schools. And have directed all the schools to ensure that each subject teacher follows the revised syllabus strictly. The board also advised the schools to strictly follow the sequence of the topics as listed in the revised syllabus. After the order by the apex court, this decision came, where the remaining exams for the 2020 batch were cancelled. The new assessment scheme for the students will be available soon at CISCE site, https://www.cisce.org/.
“Schools across the nation had been closed for almost three months due to the nation-wide lockdown because of coronavirus pandemic. Most of the schools have tried to cope up the changed scenario to keep the learning process flowing via online classes. A significant amount of instructional hours are sacrificed, due to these holidays. Which lead to the reduction in the academic year”, said Gerry Arathoon, The CISCE chief executive and secretary.
THE CISCE SYLLABUS REDUCTION: REASONS
He informed the media that to cover up the lost pace the board has reduced the current syllabus up to 25% which will prevail for the next few months. He also cleared the fact that further reduction in the syllabus could happen if the condition does not improve as required. This also came as a concern, if the schools remained locked for another month or two then the internal valuations could suffer too. This may also lead to increased confusion for the next batch of students.
“Also to make up for the loss of the physical teaching time lost during the lockdown, the CISCE has been working with its subject experts lately. This came as a result of the reduction of the syllabus for all major subjects at the ICSE class 10th and ISC class 12th examinations. The syllabus reduction is done by an undertaking of all the core concepts whether theoretical or practical. For all the subjects of the respective classes”, he gave further information.
THE SYLLABUS CONCERNS
There has been a concern by respective school teaching staff and authorities. Over the smooth completion of all the subjects and topics with adherence to the understanding of children. This concern leads to revising the syllabus to deduct the burden it puts over the children and the teaching staff. Also, it reduced the need to finish every topic without compromising with an adequate amount of time for grasping the concept. Thus this reduction in the syllabus by CISCE came as an early bird moves from the board. By understanding and acting as per the state of mind of both the children and the teachers
The concept of online learning is still a new arena to explore for the Indian education system though. This process of online classes has open channels for both the students and the authorities in many ways. Like to have mode and concept flexibility while maintaining discipline and using varied resources. This has also lead to greater involvement of parents into their child’s studies. And also to help them understand the concepts better. The CISCE reduces the Syllabus for 2021 board, maybe further pushed to almost 50% reduction in syllabi. But this all depends on the circumstances that might take place due to the pandemic. Until then all the schools are guided to conduct online classes.
IMPORTANT LINKS :
The links for the details of reduction in the syllabus for classes Xth and XIIth are as follows :
- The ICSE reduced syllabus for the academic year 2020-2021 for class X: https://www.cisce.org/publicationdetail.aspx?id=77
- The ISC reduced syllabus for the academic year 2020-2021 for class XII: https://www.cisce.org/publicationdetail.aspx?id=44
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