NCERT curriculum: Syllabus reviewed to reduce burden on students

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been advised to undertake an exercise to review its syllabus with a view to reducing the curriculum load on the students. The NCERT has conducted a workshop in this regard and have come out with following plan of action for reducing the curriculum burden, said Minister of state (HRD), Upendra Kushwaha, today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question. "The purpose of education is to bring out a good human being out of the system. For real development along with knowledge, Life Skill education, value education, physical education, experiential learning is essential. Creative skills need to be nurtured. It was demand from all stakeholders that because of heavy curriculum, there is no time left for all these aspects. Also rote learning is not the way forward. Therefore, School Syllabus must be rationalized," Ministry of Human Resource Development statement said.
 
Plan of action to reduce the curriculum burden

1- Analysis of NCERT’s syllabi and textbooks across subject areas and classes focusing on the following:
 
Learning outcomes
Curriculum linkages across classes and subjects
Overlapping in the content (science and geography; physics and chemistry, etc.)
Comprehensibility of language
Age-appropriateness of the content
Diverse contexts

2-Inviting suggestions from teachers, students, parents and other stake holders through web portal on the reduction of curriculum load.
 
3-Developing framework for experiential learning through mapping of curricular concepts, life skills and values for holistic development of children.
 
It may be noted that suggestions have been invited from various stakeholders through the website of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on March 5, 018. The suggestions can be made till April 6th, 2018. 
 
NCERT has also placed an advertisement in the newspapers informing the stakeholders about the MHRD’s website for sending their suggestions on rationalizing curriculum burden.