Lockdown: CBSE to assess loss of time for students, rationalise syllabus for classes 9-12

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is considering rationalising the syllabus for classes 9 to 12 for the next academic year to make up for lost time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board is presently in the process of assessing the situation as well as the loss and a call in this regard will be taken accordingly.

The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) had last week announced an alternative academic calendar for students enrolled in classes 1 to 5 to be followed as they study at home due to the lockdown.The council is in the process of developing similar plans for higher classes as well.

"NCERT has come out with revised activities calender for classes 1-8 , the CBSE is assessing the situation and loss time to rationalise syllabus for classes 9-12 and inform in due course of time," a senior board official said.

On April 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the 21-day nationwide lockdown till May 3. All schools were closed and exams postponed at least a week before the lockdown on March 25 was announced.

The annual academic schedule has been thrown out of gear due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as well as many other state boards had to either postpone or cancel board exams.

Several schools were conducting teaching and learning activities online but there were no uniform guidelines for the purpose before the calendar was announced.

"The alternate calendar contains week-wise plan consisting of interesting and challenging activities, with reference to theme or chapter taken from syllabus or textbook.

"Most importantly, it maps the themes with the learning outcomes. The purpose of mapping of themes with learning outcomes is to facilitate teachers and parents to assess the progress in the learning of children and also to go beyond textbooks," a NCERT official said.

The board had earlier announced that it would conduct pending board examination only for 29 subjects, which are crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions.

The board had also announced that it will not conduct pending class 10 and 12 examinations in foreign countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is difficult to decide as of now about when exams will be held but students will be given at least 10 days of prior notice before the exams are conducted," the CBSE official said.

According to Human Resource Development Ministry officials, competitive exams, including the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), are likely to be conducted in June end but no decision has been taken in this regard yet.

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 507 and the number of cases to 15,712 in the country on Sunday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The total number of cases includes 77 foreign nationals.