State board to tweak syllabus to fit in with no. of schooldays

In an attempt to reduce pressure on teachers and students, the Maharashtra school education department is planning to tailor the syllabus for the academic year 2020-21 according to the number of school days. Also, this reduction, following suit of private boards, is being done to compensate for the academic less as physical schools are currently shut in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Authorities of the state school education department claim the syllabus for the academic year 2020-21 will be adjusted according to the number of school days. A senior official of the department said, "We cannot reduce the syllabus considerably because we are not entirely shifting to online classes. We have to start physical schools in some districts which do not have facilities for virtual education. So we are planning to reduce the academic syllabus according to the number of school days irrespective of online or offline mode of education."

On July 2, the Council for the Indian School Certificate

Examinations (CISCE) reduced the syllabus for Class 10 (ICSE) and Class 12 (ISC) by up to 25 per cent. Later on July 7, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced a 30 per cent reduction in the syllabus for Class 9 to 12.

On the other hand, all eyes are now focussed on Maharashtra board results after

students have secured high scores in the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Class 10 and Indian School Certificate (ISC) Class 12 results announced on July 10. Francis Joseph, cofounder of School Leaders Network (SLN), said, "Students have performed very well by scoring high marks in ICSE and ISC board exams even though some papers were cancelled on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. There was a new marking formula initiated by the council too. Now, all eyes are fixed on SSC and HSC board results as students have appeared for almost all papers."

Authorities of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) claim they aim to declare the SSC and HSC results in this month.

A senior official of MSBSHSE, Mumbai division, said, "We are in the process of scanning answer sheets of Class 12 exams as the paper correction is completed. There are few papers of Class 10 exams which are still being assessed. We aim to declare the HSC results by July 15 and SSC by July 31."

We cannot reduce the syllabus considerably because we are not entirely shif ting to online classes. We have to start physical schools in some districts which do not have facilities for virtual education

–STATE SCHOOL EDU DEPARTMENT