The Central Board of Secondary Education syllabus for classes 9 to 12 has been reduced by a significant amount of 30% this year due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This does not mean that the core concepts will be compromised, they will remain intact according to Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
Going by the new schedule, Class 11 students of political science will not study about federalism in the Constitution during the academic year of 2020-21. Political theory sections based on citizenship, secularism and nationalism have also been removed, according to the details on deleted sections, available on the CBSE website.
As far as Class 12 is concerned, the topic of India’s relations with its neighbours has been deleted, along with sections on social movements, regional aspirations, the changing nature of India’s economic development, and the Planning Commission. In History classes, students will not study chapters on understanding partition, or on peasants, zamindars and the State. Business Studies students will not study the concept of demonetization, Goods and Services Tax, or the impact of government policy changes on business with special reference to liberalization, privatization and globalization in India.
For Class 11 students, the core English course will not include exercises to write a letter to the editor, or apply for a job with a resume.
For Class 10 students, the social science chapter on forests and wildlife in contemporary India has been deleted, along with chapters on democracy and diversity; gender, religion and caste; popular struggles and movements; and, challenges to democracy.
In science, the chapter on the functioning of the human eye has been removed, along with a section on the basic concepts of evolution. A number of practical experiments – which will be harder to conduct when students are able to spend limited time in the laboratory – have been removed, including tests on acetic acid, mounting a leaf peel, and studying the comparative cleaning capacity of soap in hard and soft water.
CBSE has advised school principals and teachers to ensure that “the topics that have been reduced are also explained to the students to the extent required to connect different topics. However the reduced syllabus will not be part of the topics for Internal Assessment and year-end Board Examination,” said an official statement.
