CBSE Cuts 30% Syllabus For Class 9-12

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday announced the cuts on the syllabus for class 9 to 12. The chapters on federalism, secularism, citizenship, GST, demonetisation and more have been axed from the Class 11, 12 syllabi.

The CBSE syllabus for 2020-21, for classes 9 to 12, has been reduced by 30% this year due to COVID-19 pandemic disruption, that has affected the functioning of the schools across the nation.

In June, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had invited suggestions from educationists for syllabus rationalisation for which he received more than 1,500 suggestions were received. Final changes made in the syllabi have been finalised by the respective Course Committees of the CBSE, with the approval of the Curriculum Committee and Governing Body of the Board.

In an official statement, CBSE has advised school principals, heads 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."

On Tuesday, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said, that the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 has been reduced by 30 per cent.

“Considering the importance of learning achievement, it has been decided to rationalise syllabus up to 30 percent by retaining the core concepts,” he tweeted.

????Considering the importance of learning achievement, it has been decided to rationalize syllabus up to 30% by retaining the core concepts.@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @HRDMinistry @mygovindia @transformIndia @cbseindia29 @mygovindia

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 7, 2020

CBSE Syllabus 2020-21 Reduction Details

According to the details available on the CBSE website, the deleted chapters for the classes are mentioned below.

For Class 10 students, the social science chapter on forests and wildlife in contemporary India, chapters on democracy and diversity; popular struggles and movements; gender, religion and caste; and, challenges to democracy have been deleted.

In science, the chapter on human eye function has been removed, along with a section on the basic concepts of evolution. Several practical experiments have also been removed as during coronavirus pandemic times it will be harder to conduct lab practical experiments. Practical experiments like tests on mounting a leaf peel, acetic acid, and studying the comparative cleaning capacity of soap in hard and soft water have been removed.

For Class 11 students of political science, the chapter on Federalism in the Constitution has been removed for the academic year of 2020-21. Political theory sections on secularism, citizenship, and nationalism have also been removed. Also, the core English course will not include writing exercises like, to write a letter to the editor, or apply for a job with a resume.

For Class 12, the students will not study, the impact of government policy changes on business with special reference to liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation in India, the concept of demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax, in Business Studies.

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 have also been removed. History students will not study chapters on the understanding partition, or peasants, zamindars and the State.