Bihar board proposes 30% cut in syllabus, govt refers it to experts

The Bihar school examination board (BSEB) has sent a proposal to the state government for reducing the syllabus in view of the disruption caused by Covid-19 pandemic to education.

On the lines of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), which was the first to announce a revised and reduced curriculum for Class 9 to 12, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and several state school boards, the Bihar school examination board (BSEB) has also sent a proposal to the state government for reducing the syllabus in view of the disruption caused by Covid-19 pandemic to education.

Additional secretary, department of education, Giriwar Dayal Singh said the board’s proposal for 30 percent reduction in the syllabus had been received and brainstorming by experts was on to work out the mechanism.(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

However, the department of education is yet to take a call on it. It is mulling over the proposal and the matter has been referred to an expert group from the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and other academicians to decide what could be done to take the load off the students without hurting their prospects for higher and technical education like JEE, NEET, CLAT etc.

A large number of students from Bihar take the engineering, medical and other entrance exams for technical courses every year.

The CISCE, CBSE and state boards of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and a few other states had earlier announced a reduction in the syllabus by 30 percent to make up for the academic loss amid extraordinary situation due to novel coronavirus pandemic.

Additional secretary, department of education, Giriwar Dayal Singh said the board’s proposal for 30 percent reduction in the syllabus had been received and brainstorming by experts was on to work out the mechanism.

“The online classes are also on and the effort is aimed at covering 100 percent syllabus of class 10 and 12 boards. However, if the syllabus needs to be reduced, it has to be decided what should be removed without affecting the students’ preparedness for future exams. The experts will work on it,” he added.

In Bihar, the schools have been badly affected due to the twin impact of pandemic and floods, which have affected nearly 80-lakh population in 18 districts of the state. Though flood is a recurring feature in the state, it’s impact is felt long after the water recedes due to a trail of destruction, including damaged school buildings, it leaves behind.

The internet connectivity is also very slow in rural areas. Due to poverty, there is also a question of affordability when it comes to possessing laptops, computers and smartphones. According to the latest figures by the union ministry of social justice and employment, Bihar has 41.4 percent people living below the poverty line, the highest in the country.

With assembly election also due in October-November, this could further impact schools as most of them are used for housing security forces. In 2020, Bihar was the first board to take board exams in February itself.

The CBSE has reduced the syllabus but still asked the schools and teachers to explain even those topic, which had been removed so that the students didn’t have problems in understanding the related topics. However, the reduced topics will not be part of the internal assessment and board exams.

Singh said the reduction in the syllabus would require meticulous planning and hence the experts had been asked to decide how to go about it. “The proposal is being reviewed,” he added.

According to a senior education department official, reducing the syllabus was an uphill task as there were nearly four dozen subjects spread across four streams of science, commerce, social science and humanities, besides several vocational courses. “The forms for board exams are already being filled up but it is a fact that education has been impacted and would continue to be impacted,” he added.

The date for filling up forms for intermediate is from August 17-27, while that for matriculation is from August 18-28. The admissions for class 9 and 11 are also on. “Even if the government plans to open schools at a later date, it will be difficult to engage classes and cover syllabus,” said the official.