Odisha to reduce school syllabi by 30% due to Covid lockdown

The decision would affect 60 lakh school students across Odisha, says education minister

The Odisha government on Wednesday announced a 30% reduction in the school syllabi from classes I to XII for the current academic session due to the inordinate delay in the reopening of the academic institutions because of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

The syllabus committees have selected the chapters while keeping in mind that students could compete in national-level examinations. (HT PHOTO)

Samir Ranjan Dash, the state school and mass education minister, said that the decision to reduce Class I to XII syllabi was taken on the recommendation of the syllabus committee of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) authorities.

The decision would affect 60 lakh school students across Odisha, he added.

Dash said the students must check the revised syllabi from the official websites of the BSE (www.bseodisha.nic.in), SCERT (www.scertodisha.nic.in ) and CHSE (www.chseodisha.nic.in ).

He said the block education officers (BEOs) and district education officers (DEOs) would be entrusted with the responsibility to inform schools and higher secondary institutions about the state government’s decision at the earliest.

However, the minister was non-committal, whether the syllabi would be further reduced due to the inordinate delay in the reopening of schools.

Dash said the state government would take a call on the issue by the first week of September following the Centre’s announcement of unlock 4.0 guidelines on August 31.

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