Mita Mukherjee
The West Bengal school education department has started revising the syllabus and text books of Classes VI to VIII of state schools aiming to align the curriculum with recommendations of the state’s new education policy and NEP and to bring parity with other state and national boards. As of now the plan is to bring the revised syllabus into effect from 2026.
The syllabus for the said classes had been last revised in 2014 after the state government set up a 19- member syllabus committee in 2012 to restructure the school curriculum. Schools have been following the text books based on the syllabus revised between 2012 and 2014, sources said.
Heads and teachers of schools said that revision of school syllabus is a continuous process but it is long overdue in Bengal. Usually, the curriculum is made up to date and at par with other boards when it is needed. In Bengal no changes were made in the syllabus of VI, VII and VIII in the last ten years, according to the teachers.
The syllabus expert committee of the state was reconstructed by the government in October last year but it started the process of revising the syllabus in January end this year. It is presently reviewing the existing syllabus of Classes VI to VIII for schools under state Madhyamik (X) board. The final syllabus for the three classes will be prepared once the review of the existing syllabus is complete.
“The revised syllabus is not likely to get implemented before 2026”, sources in the school education department said.
The panel will start the process of revising the syllabus of Classes IX and X after finalizing the new syllabus for Classes VI, VII and VIII.
“The syllabus revision work is going on in full swing. The mentors and members of the committee are now reviewing and rectifying the existing syllabus of Classes VI to VIII. The subject experts have started submitting the reports. The framing of the new syllabus will start in the next stage. The revamping of Classes IX and X syllabus will start after we finalise the VI, VII and VIII syllabus,” Udayan Bandyopadhyay, chairman of the expert committee of school education, told EducationWorld.
The committee chairman admitted that there is an immediate need for syllabus revision in the said classes and there has been a delay in starting the process of restructuring the curriculum.
Though the expert committee was reconstructed last year, the panel mentors and members could start the first phase of the syllabus revision work only in January end due to some procedural delays.
The work got further delayed because of the Lok Sabha elections held in April-May when many of the panel members and officials of the school education department involved in the syllabus revision work were engaged in election related duties, sources said.
“It is important to complete the syllabus revision. But we cannot do this work in a hurry. We will have to examine a lot of components before finalizing the syllabus. We have to be very careful because we need to ensure that students do not get burdened. So it will take some time to complete the revision. We are constantly in touch with NCERT and other state boards,” said Bandopadhyay.
At every stage the suggestions received from the mentors will be sent to the state school education department for final approval.
“The changes will be sent to the government for approval. The government recommendations will be incorporated accordingly before releasing the final revised syllabus,” Bandyopadhyay said.
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