The Indian Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) curriculum has been in discussion often, for putting students under pressure. They recently reintroduced their first pattern, which consists of three terms, where students have to slog through the whole year’s syllabus during the final run.
The previous pattern had seen students learn the syllabus in smaller fragments, breaking it down into four formative assessments and two summative evaluations. With this school curriculum, several students managed to score a grade of 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).
The primary purpose for this change to the new pattern was due to the constant complaints from the higher subsequent sections, claiming that students have been failing miserably in subjects and are struggling to cope with the stress of handling the full term portion.
To counter this, the CBSE plans to teach students how to deal with this stress from a young age, that is, from grade 7 onwards. But will it work out?
This move has its positives and its negatives, the positives being the child’s increased brain capacity to sit and learn five different subjects at a young age, and the negatives being, loss of the child’s leisure time due to more time spent on studies. Studies show that it is important for children to play.
I feel that CBSE has gotten it completely wrong by assuming that it will be helpful for children to study big portions at a young age.
On the other hand, teenagers, are not being able to cope with the syllabus, due to distractions - mainly the overuse of social media. It’s high time that the grade 11 students start realising their priorities and goals.
Another aspect is that, from grade seven to ten, students have to cope with five subjects that are entirely different from one other, whereas in class 11 and 12 they choose the subject that they are interested to learn.
The new move will only result in increased tension in the minds of parents and students, and will also spoil or limit a student’s childhood. Education needs to change with time.
- The reader is a student based in Dubai
