The officials from the Delhi Government who have decided to chop off 25 percent of the syllabus from classes 6 to 8 in its schools in order to incorporate skill-based subjects has made it clear that there would not be any loss of learning for students as it would be made suitable to ‘reuse’ the deleted portions in the syllabus in more constructive way. The government is keen to incorporate skill based subjects cutting the syllabus material which it feels is unnecessary.
The decision to curb the syllabus has been criticized by various segments of the society and academicians. They have claimed that the announcement is arbitrary and has not been completely deliberated upon. However, the Directorate of Education (DoE) officials have claimed that they have tried to make use of the deleted subjects from the syllabus and are trying to incorporate them into higher grades, so that the basic standards of learning for each class do not suffer.
Manish Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi has earlier in the month declared that up to 25% of the class VI to VIII in the government schools would be reduced from October onwards so that skill based courses, art, theatre and sports could get incorporated in the education system. Government is also in talks with CBSE for a similar reduction in Classed IX to XII from next year. Government, since its announcement has asked for suggestions and inputs from teachers around the state, and it has got almost 40000 replies to it.
The experiment will be introduced in 50 model government schools on a pilot basis from the current academic session. Suggestions included removal for some chapters, deletion of portions instead of complete chapters and not removing a few chapters. These suggestions would be looked after by a committee that would consists of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) members, Delhi University Educational Organizations, Civil Society and others related to the education sector.
