Karnataka Schools: Demand Reduction in Syllabus

The Association of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka has demanded reduction in the syllabus of all classes for the current academic year from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Government of Karnataka.

Last year, the schools were forced to close as a safety measure to abide by Covid 19 guidelines and lockdowns. However, with the Covid 19 restrictions removed this year, the government had announced that there will be no reduction in syllabus for any class for the academic year 2021-22, for both 1st & 2nd PUC Classes in State board and 11th & 12th Classes in Central Board.

The association however is arguing that the schools are yet to function at full steam and there is a huge paucity of time. The offline classes for 9th to 12th began only on August 23rd in a distorted manner with batches of 50% attendance and half day classes. The government has recently announced 100% and students are yet to turn towards the schools.

The association claims, that some challenges that are to be faced, if the reduction of syllabus is not implemented:

• The schools have opened very recently and proper syllabus has just begun, as till now the teachers were busy in conducting repeat classes batch wise due to Covid 19 guidelines still in place. It may be difficult to complete syllabus in such a less time

• It may be difficult for teachers to make students understand the concepts in less time, due to online classes, there has been a severe gap in personal level interaction between the teachers and students. To fill this gap the teachers would take more time to make the concepts understood. This has to be continued for a few days even in the offline classes. So, reduction in syllabus can be a good decision

• Even today many students are attending online classes, and the teachers are finding it difficult to balance both offline and online classes. So, it may still require more time to adjust for both teachers and students.

• The classes from 1st to 5th are not yet opened and there is no clarity from the government about reponing of the classes from 1 to 5. So, it may be the right decision to further reduce the syllabus for this year.

• Many principles claim that if the syllabus is not reduced, the students may be forced to mugging up things for the sake of completion of the syllabus, and this will not help the students to better understand the important concepts. So, it is a good idea for reducing the syllabus, so that the students can understand better and perform well in the exams.

 On the other hand, many educationists feel that reduction in the syllabus may not be a solution. There should be a complete system overhaul under NEP, where it is necessary to identify and focus more on core competencies of the students rather than syllabus .

 Further, the association argued that due to the lesser time for completing academic year, It is next to impossible to complete portions this year and it may bring teachers under pressure. This may affect the quality of education for the children according to the association. The government has said it will look into the matter and come up with a decision shortly. 

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