Give schoolkids a common national syllabus, parents and educationists suggest to NCERT
Uniformity in curricula apart from state history and language is call of the hour; Apr 30 is deadline to submit recommendations
With the April 30 deadline looming for suggestions to be given on the
National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) website,
regarding the syllabus for schoolchildren across the country, a common
thread of thought has emerged in discussions of parents and
educationists in the city.
Many are urging the government to consider a uniform pan-India syllabus,
as opposed to the current situation, in which students must choose
between various state and national-level boards, like the Indian
Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE), etc.
In February, Union human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash
Javadekar had announced that the NCERT syllabus for schools would be
reduced to half; thereafter, suggestions were recently invited from
parents, students and educationists on reducing the syllabus burden for
kids.
Jayashree Deshpande, president of the Jagruk Palak Sanghatana, said, “Our group has almost 5,000 parents, who agree about a nationwide uniform syllabus pattern. Options for boards to follow can spark confusion. Also, besides the history or language of each state, there are many subjects like science, mathematics, geography and other languages where a uniform syllabus can be applicable. So, a common national syllabus would be more efficient, and all schoolchildren could refer to the same books as well.”
The issue of varying textbooks according to boards is a concern at the moment for several parents, who say they have to purchase books of different publications as recommended separately by each school.
Vinod Darekar from the Parents’ Association of Dnyanganga School said, “The 500 parents in our group also support a single national syllabus. Also, NCERT should look into reducing the schoolbag burden, perhaps using just one textbook and notebook for every syllabus. In the current scenario, young ones are weighed down by textbooks, workbooks and more. The books should also be more light-weight.”
City educationists second the thought. Lakshmi Kumar, director of The Orchid School, said, “Apart from a heterogonous curriculum, some kind of uniformity in the academic level should also be decided by NCERT for most subjects. It may be a long process, but levelling this would help students in the future, as they ultimately all face the same competitive examinations for engineering, medical, arts or government services.” Nandkumar Kakirde, director and honorary secretary at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), which has state board-affiliated schools in the city, said, “A uniform syllabus will be most welcome. As of now, there is a vast difference here between the curricula of ICSE, CBSE and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) boards. That apart, students also get mentally affected by such a difference between syllabuses among friends, and start comparing. To avoid all this, uniformity is important.”
Other suggestions that have been put forth to NCERT include an emphasis on physical training, experiential learning, giving students practical projects that are easily doable without parental interference, and more.
Added Darekar, “Students also need to be given a choice between subjects or subject groups for final board exams, which could help them maintain merit. For now, if a student does not wish to take up biology in the future and wants to pursue engineering, that one subject could affect the whole score. Kids these days have quite a bit of clarity about their choices — we should make the system help them prepare for competitive exams in their futures.”
Jayashree Deshpande, president of the Jagruk Palak Sanghatana, said, “Our group has almost 5,000 parents, who agree about a nationwide uniform syllabus pattern. Options for boards to follow can spark confusion. Also, besides the history or language of each state, there are many subjects like science, mathematics, geography and other languages where a uniform syllabus can be applicable. So, a common national syllabus would be more efficient, and all schoolchildren could refer to the same books as well.”
The issue of varying textbooks according to boards is a concern at the moment for several parents, who say they have to purchase books of different publications as recommended separately by each school.
Vinod Darekar from the Parents’ Association of Dnyanganga School said, “The 500 parents in our group also support a single national syllabus. Also, NCERT should look into reducing the schoolbag burden, perhaps using just one textbook and notebook for every syllabus. In the current scenario, young ones are weighed down by textbooks, workbooks and more. The books should also be more light-weight.”
City educationists second the thought. Lakshmi Kumar, director of The Orchid School, said, “Apart from a heterogonous curriculum, some kind of uniformity in the academic level should also be decided by NCERT for most subjects. It may be a long process, but levelling this would help students in the future, as they ultimately all face the same competitive examinations for engineering, medical, arts or government services.” Nandkumar Kakirde, director and honorary secretary at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), which has state board-affiliated schools in the city, said, “A uniform syllabus will be most welcome. As of now, there is a vast difference here between the curricula of ICSE, CBSE and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) boards. That apart, students also get mentally affected by such a difference between syllabuses among friends, and start comparing. To avoid all this, uniformity is important.”
Other suggestions that have been put forth to NCERT include an emphasis on physical training, experiential learning, giving students practical projects that are easily doable without parental interference, and more.
Added Darekar, “Students also need to be given a choice between subjects or subject groups for final board exams, which could help them maintain merit. For now, if a student does not wish to take up biology in the future and wants to pursue engineering, that one subject could affect the whole score. Kids these days have quite a bit of clarity about their choices — we should make the system help them prepare for competitive exams in their futures.”
No comments:
Post a Comment