Sisodia tells teachers to leave out 20% syllabus

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told school teachers that they should leave out 20% of the syllabus since the Delhi government could not fulfil its promise to reduce the curriculum by 25%.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told school teachers that they should leave out 20% of the syllabus since the Delhi government could not fulfil its promise to reduce the curriculum by 25%.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told school teachers that they should leave out 20% of the syllabus since the Delhi government could not fulfil its promise to reduce the curriculum by 25%. (Hindustan Times)

“We were told we won’t be allowed to reduce the syllabus . So we have told our teachers verbally not to teach 20% syllabus and not use it to test students. We need to have revolutionary thinking,” he said on Thursday.

Sisodia, who is also the education minister, said he was advised to consult educationists over reduction in syllabus. He said he consulted the teachers since they know best what needs to be taught.

“I thought some of them (educationists) are Leftist, some Centrist and others Rightist. For me, the 50,000 teachers who work in the classrooms are the best educationists. Because they know what is useless and how much effort has to be taken to make students understand concepts,” the deputy CM said.

Sisodia was speaking at a conference on education at the Constitution Club on Rafi Marg.

The minister stressed the need to change the syllabus and said there was a need to teach ideas from new perspective.

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“In books, students read fairy tales. We teach students fairy tales about a princess who is ugly and then gets beautiful upon praying. Students learn that it is important to be beautiful. Such books and chapters need to be thrown away. Such things can’t be taught. But as we can’t change syllabus, we must tell students that it is not right. And instead teach them about beauty of heart,” he said.

He suggested a survey to find out how many private schools are owned by politicians and in how many schools politicians and retired government officers are board members.

He said commercialisation cannot be stopped but quality of teaching can be improved at government schools.