Schools of Class 10 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Class 12 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board have requested the state school education department not to reduce the syllabus because they have already completed teaching major part of the academic curriculum via online lectures. On the other hand, teachers and students of some schools have repeatedly demanded the state government to reduce the syllabus by 50 per cent due to lack of time before the board exams.
Some schools said the syllabus should not be reduced further because teachers have already covered a major part of the portion. Akansha Mehta, a Class 10 teacher said, "It is too late to reduce the syllabus because we have already finished teaching 70 per cent of the portion via online lectures. Our efforts will be wasted. In addition, it will lead to a lot of confusion among students if the state reduces the syllabus now."
While, Mandar Sawant, a Class 12 teacher said, "The state has already announced the dates of SSC and HSC board exams so they should continue with the existing 75 per cent academic syllabus for SSC and HSC board exams in order to avoid further confusion."
On the other hand, in an attempt to relax the burden on students and teachers before the board examinations, authorities of some schools said the state school education department should reduce the syllabus as HSC exams are scheduled to be conducted on April 23 and SSC on April 29, 2021.
The principal of a Khar school, said, "Both students and teachers will get sufficient time to complete the syllabus if the syllabus is reduced. Also, teachers can then focus on conducting revision lectures."
As of now, the state school education department has reduced the syllabus for Class 10 (SSC) and Class 12 (HSC) board exams by 25 per cent due to shift to online mode of education on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. Recently, the state school education minister Varsha Gaikwad said it is not possible to reduce the syllabus for SSC and HSC board exams now by 50 per cent.
