After almost six months and repeated demands, the Tamil Nadu government finally announced the syllabus reduction for Class 10 and 12. Roughly about one-third of the lessons have been made optional for these classes. The syllabus is divided into two parts: compulsory and optional. Students can avoid studying the optional parts while preparing for public exams.
In a letter to all Chief Education Officers (CEOs) recently, the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) had said that all schools should first take up the priority syllabus and then teach the optional contents later if time permits.
The government has permitted in-person classes for students in Classes 10 and 12 from Tuesday. The list of priority lessons has been sent to all CEOs, who will subsequently send it to school principals.
In October 2020, the School Education Minister had announced that about 40 per cent of the total syllabus will be slashed. The SCERT was asked to carefully select a priority syllabus, based on which the public exam question papers will be set. An 18-member committee was subsequently formed to shortlist and make the exam portions concise.
"We have excluded particular parts from multiple chapters instead of completely cutting down one-third of the chapters in each subject. This way, the students will at least have a broader understanding of most topics," said an official from the school education department.
Schools across the country have remained shut since March owing to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. As the classes continued to be held online and on other broadcast platforms, schools struggled to meet the deadlines with the curriculum. Teachers from both government and private schools insisted on reducing the syllabus for this academic year. There was, however, a delay in releasing the revised syllabus as the date of reopening the schools was not finalised.
