School syllabus cut evokes mixed reactions

Some parents want full syllabus; others say it is a burden

The syllabus in AP schools is to be reduced. The revised syllabus will be finalised by the reopening of the schools on September 5 and parents are divided about it.

The schools usually work for 222 days every year but this year the schools have been closed from March 22 due to the pandemic. The government decided to cut 3040 per cent of the syllabus to reduce pressure on the students in their studies.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy announced the date of the reopening of schools from September 5 on the occasion of Guru Pujotsavam (Teachers Day).

Minister for education Audimulapu Suresh said that the completion of the entire syllabus in a six-month period is a Herculean task but that the government decided to reduce the syllabus to help the students and teachers. He said that the state council of educational research (SCERT) was asked to work on the reduction of the syllabus and will suggest the decreased syllabus for each subject and class.

Parents D.S. Prasad and K. Prabhu welcomed the decision of the government to reduce the syllabus. They said that students are worried about completion of all lessons in six months which would be difficult. They said that the government can apply the reduction of syllabus for this year only due to the crisis and can restore the total syllabus from next year. They said that the government should announce the revised syllabus before the schools reopen to help the students to plan their studies.

On the other hand, parents G. Kusuma and Pundit Venkateswarlu said that students are continuing home studies in this lockdown period hence there is no need of syllabus reduction. They said that the basic knowledge of the students will be impacted due to decrease of syllabus and sought continuation of full syllabus by extending the time. They said that usually summer holidays are after completion of annual exams in March but now the government can cancel summer holidays and should conduct annual exams next May to complete the syllabus.