NCERT will cut syllabus by half, says Prakash Javadekar

In a bid to provide relief to school students, the NCERT syllabus will be reduced by half from the 2019 academic session, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has said.

He said the school syllabus was more than that of BA and B.Com courses, and it needed to be reduced by half so that students get time for other activities for their all-round development.

"At the stage of development of cognitive skills, students need to be given full freedom. I have asked NCERT to reduce the syllabus by half and it will be effective from the 2019 academic session," he told Rajya Sabha TV in an interview.

Elaborating on the reforms in school education under consideration, the minister said examinations and detentions would be introduced.
He said a Bill in this regard will be considered in Parliament in the next part of the Budget Session.

"Without examination, there is no competition and no target. There must be an element of competition for better outcomes," he said.

If a student fails in March, he would get another chance in May. If student flunks both the times, then only he/she would be detained, he added.

Javadekar also expressed concerned over the poor quality of teachers, which he said was resulting in poor learning outcomes.

"The basic task of teachers is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of students and mentor them accordingly," he added.

He also informed that under the Right to Education Act, 20 lakh teachers were to be trained by 2015 but only five lakh of them could be covered.

Over 14 lakh teachers were undergoing a skill upgradation programme. It should lead to better results, he added.

Regarding the much talked-about New Education Policy, Javadekar informed that a report in this regard will be submitted by the end of next month and it would be unveiled soon thereafter after necessary approvals.