Odisha to include COVID-19 management, climate change in Class 10 syllabus, says Edu Min

The Odisha government has decided to include COVID-19 management and climate change in the syllabus for Class X from the current academic year 2022-23, according to Education Minister SR Dash. He said that as the state has already experienced three COVID-19 waves and is bracing for the fourth, studies about the pandemic will be included in the syllabus to keep the younger generation prepared in the future, as stated in a report by PTI. Similarly, with natural calamities frequently affecting the state, students should be aware of the impact of climate change on human society, he added. "It is a global threat and students should be aware of it," Dash said.

The topics COVID-19 management and climate change will be included in the syllabus in the second term of the current academic year. Additionally, due to the pandemic situation, only 75 per cent of the syllabus was taught in the last couple of years but 100 per cent of the Class X syllabus will be covered and questions asked accordingly in the board examinations from the current academic year, the minister said.

This comes after the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) deleted chapters on critical issues such as climate change and monsoon from the syllabus to reduce the load on students in view of COVID disruptions in the last two years as claimed by a group of college and university teachers fighting climate change. The Teachers Against the Climate Crisis (TACC) claimed that the NCERT removed an entire chapter on the greenhouse effect from the Class XI geography syllabus, a chapter on weather, climate and water from the Class VII syllabus, and information about the monsoon from the Class IX syllabus, as stated in a report by PTI.

The Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha on Saturday, June 9, notified the scheme of assessment and syllabus breakup for the 2022-23 academic session, which has been approved by the School and Mass Education Department in June 2022. According to the official notification, the 2022-23 academic session will be from May 2022 to April 2023 and will be divided into two terms. The first term will be from May to October 2022 and the second from November 2022 to April 2023.