CHENNAI: With online classes continuing for Class XII students due to Covid-19 pandemic, principals of state board schools have sought removal of non-essential portions from the syllabus for the 2021-22 academic year.
The current batch of Class XII students will write its first board exams in March 2022. CBSE had announced a special assessment scheme for Class X and XII where students will write two board exams in a year in case schools are unable to hold physical classes.
“The state government should cut down the syllabus in view of online classes for state board Class XII students. School education department can prescribe only important topics… without compromising on learning outcomes for a particular class,” said G J Manohar, principal, MCC Higher Secondary School, Chetpet.
The portions relevant for higher classes should be given more importance, he added.
M Sathish Kumar, principal of Vana Vani Matriculation Higher Secondary School, (IIT-M campus), said conducting two exams on the lines of CBSE’s proposal will extend the academic year by a month. “Though schools in urban areas wrap up syllabus through online courses, rural schools are finding it difficult to do so as most students do not have access to online classes. The state government should consider reducing the syllabus for them,” he said.
Padmaja R, headmistress of Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Saidapet, said students attend online classes only for two hours a day, on an average. “It is difficult to cover the entire syllabus with just two online classes,” she said, asking the government to provide unlimited data packs to students.
N Vijayan, senior principal of Zion Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Tambaram said there are some topics or chapters in every subject which are not important for entrance exams and that the state government should think of taking out these topics.
