The Maharashtra government on Saturday, July 25, 2020 announced that syllabus for classes 1 to 12 will be cut by 25 percent so as to reduce the burden on students amid the coronavirus pandemic. School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said details of which lessons from textbooks have been omitted will be uploaded on the website of the Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (MSCERT).

Through her social media account, Gaikwad said: “Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposal submitted by the Maharashtra State Council for Educational Research and Training to reduce the syllabus for Classes 1 to 12 for the academic year 2020-21 have been approved by the government.”

Since schools have not reopened physically, the government wants to ease the burden on students, so the syllabus will be reduced by 25 per cent for the academic year 2020-21, Gaikwad said in a statement. While schools remain closed, the academic year has started from June 15 and various alternative methods of learning are being adopted, the minister added.

Earlier, the Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ reduced the syllabus for classes 9 to 12 of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) by 30 percent for classes 9 to 12 for the academic year 2020-21.  

An official statement said that the CBSE has advised school principals and teachers to ensure that “topics that have been reduced are also explained to the students to the extent required to connect different topics. However the reduced syllabus will not be part of the topics for Internal Assessment and year-end Board Examination.”

Source: PTI