Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar stated that the Government has decided to reduce the NCERT syllabus by half as the students are getting overburdened and consequently don’t have time for extra-curricular activities.
The union minister announced to cut half of the syllabus last week.
“There is a huge load of books and information, and students have no time. There is no time for physical education, value education and life skills. So, we decided to half the portion (syllabus). There is no need to teach them everything. Students should learn principles and rest of the knowledge they can gain later,” Javadekar said.
Addressing the 10th foundation day of the Foundation for Restoration of National Values (FRNV), Javadekar said that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has received around 37,000 suggestions from parents, teachers and educationists regarding the government’s decision to lessen the burden of books.
The minister said that the values among children can only be inculcated at home and he suggested training for parents in this regard.
Lauding the FRNV’s initiative to integrate value education in the school system in India, he assured that the MHRD will work with it as a “partner”.
FRNV chaired by ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan was founded in 2008. On the occasion, he said value education is not being taught at state-run schools and asked the government to take steps for this.
“Value education is the primary step needed by the country. Emphasis on it in government schools is not sufficient. If government schools start it, other schools will also be encouraged to do so,” he said.
A journal based on value-based education was also released at the event organised at the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s headquarters at Metro Bhawan.