The syllabus that the National Council of Educational Research and Training, or NCERT, prescribes will be reduced by half from the 2019 academic session, said Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar.
“At the stage of development of cognitive skills, students need to be given full freedom,” the minister told Rajya Sabha TV in an interview aired on Saturday. He claimed that the NCERT syllabus is more extensive than those of BA and BCom courses.
Javadekar said the Parliament will consider a bill to reform school education in the next part of the Budget Session, but he clarified that exams will not be done away with. “Without examinations, there is no competition and no target,” Javadekar said. “There must be an element of competition for better outcomes.”
The minister also expressed concern about poor quality of teachers, pointing out that it was hampering the development of students. “The basic task of teachers is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of students and mentor them accordingly,” he said.
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