Rationalizing textbooks to compensate for time loss due to COVID: Education Ministry

Rationalizing textbooks to compensate for time loss due to COVID: Education Ministry

Last Updated Jul - 19 - 2022, 10:16 AM | Source : | Visitors : 38

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said on Monday that the NCERT has taken a step towards rationalization of school textbooks to start speedy recovery in students learning continuum and make up for time lost due to extended school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Devi made the statement in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic situation, students across the stages of school education have struggled a lot to continue their learning through online and other modes. Also, concerns related to curriculum load including the content load spread over syllabi and textbooks have been raised from different corners," she said.

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"Further, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 states that the reduction in content and increased flexibility of school curriculum and the renewed emphasis on constructive rather than rote learning must be accompanied by parallel changes in school textbooks. With a view to facilitating speedy recovery in students learning continuum and compensating time loss, NCERT took a step towards the rationalization of textbooks across the stages and subject areas," Ms. Devi added.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) had last month removed portions about the 2002 Gujarat riots, Emergency, Cold War, Naxalite movement and Mughal courts from its Class 12 textbooks, among other subjects, as part of its "syllabus rationalization" exercise.

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"Overlapping with similar content included in another subject area in the same class; similar content included in the lower or higher class in the same subject; difficulty level; content, which is easily accessible to children and does not require much intervention from the teachers and can be learned through self-learning or peer learning; content, which is not relevant in the present context or outdated and taking care of the learning outcomes already developed across the classes, are among the criteria adopted for rationalization of the content load," the minister said.

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