Syllabus for Madhyamik & HS reduced, talks on to reopen schools, says Partha

Kolkata: The syllabus for Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations scheduled to be held in 2021 will be reduced by 30-35 per cent in view of the pandemic, Partha Chatterjee, state Education minister said on Wednesday.

Chatterjee said: "Avik Majumdar, chairman of the expert committee of the Board of Secondary Education and the president of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education had recommended that the syllabus for the proposed Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations should be reduced by 30-35 per cent in view of the pandemic." The Education department has accepted their recommendation and decided to reduce the syllabus for the proposed examinations," Chatterjee said.

He said the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education will publish the notification and give in details about the subject wise reduction of the syllabus. He said the parents of the students and the teachers' organisations had requested him to reduce the syllabus."The schools have remained closed since March. Online classes were held and teachers of different subjects took classes in the television, but that was not enough. Considering the interest of the students, reduction of the syllabus seemed

to be the only reasonable solution, he maintained.

Asked when the schools are going to reopen, Chatterjee said senior officials of the School Education department are holding meetings with the school authorities to arrive at workable solution. "Manish Jain, principal secretary of the School Education department and Anindya Narayan Biswas, commissioner are holding talks with the school authorities. The schools are closed since March and before reopening the schools, one has to check the school buildings, the class rooms, laboratories and toilets. Moreover, the buildings will have to be thoroughly sanitised before reopening. The Covid protocols will have to be strictly followed as the safety and security of every students needs to be ensured before reopening of the schools," he maintained.

He said he would talk to the Vice-Chancellors on the reopening of the universities. "Once they give

clearance we will inform the Chief Minister regarding the reopening of the colleges and universities."