New Delhi: In a move that is sure to bring cheer to students, parents and teachers, Union human resource development Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the NCERT syllabus will be reduced by half, 2019 academic session onwards.
Speaking to a television channel, he said that school syllabus in India is more exhaustive than that of BA and B. Com courses, and needs to be reduced by half so that students get time for other activities for their all-round development.
“At the stage of development of cognitive skills, students need to be given full freedom. I have asked NCERT to reduce the syllabus by half and it will be effective from the 2019 academic session,” he told the channel in an interview that is to be aired soon.
Elaborating on the reforms in school education under consideration, the minister said examinations and detentions would be introduced and added that a Bill in this regard will be considered in Parliament in the next part of the Budget Session.
“Without examination, there is no competition and no target. There must be an element of competition for better outcomes,” he said.
If a student fails in March, s/he would get another chance in May. If a student flunks both the times, then only he/she would be detained, he added. Mr Javadekar also expressed concern over the poor quality of teachers, which he said is resulting in poor learning outcomes.
“The basic task of teachers is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of students and mentor them accordingly,” he added.
He also admitted that under the Right to Education Act, 20 lakh teachers were to be trained by 2015, but only five lakh have been covered so far. Over 14 lakh teachers are undergoing skill upgradation programme, and this should lead to better results, he added.
Regarding the much talked-about New Education Policy, Mr Javadekar said that a report in this regard will be submitted by the end of next month and it will be unveiled soon thereafter, after the necessary approvals.
