The Human Resource Development Ministry on Tuesday said it has decided to rationalise the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus by up to 30 per cent for classes IX-XII for the academic year 2020-21 by retaining the core concepts.

“Looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, the CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of Class IX-XII,” said Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister of Human Resource Development.

To aid the decision, a few weeks ago, suggestions were also invited from educationists on the reduction of syllabus for students, and the Ministry received more than 1,500 suggestions, he added.

“The prevailing health emergency in the country and at different parts of the world, as well as the efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, have resulted in loss of classroom teaching due to closure of schools. Therefore, the Board has decided to revise the syllabi for classes IX-XII for the academic session 2020-21,” said an official statement.

The heads of schools and teachers may 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 the year-end board examination, it added.

For elementary classes (I-VIII), schools may follow the Alternative Academic Calendar and Learning Outcomes specified by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

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