One academic authority for all classes, says state

We are unable to upgrade the syllabus to the national and international level so far as there is no cohesion of thought among academic agencies working for primary to higher secondary education NAND KUMAR, principal secretary state school education department

MUMBAI: To bring the syllabus of classes 1 to 12 at par with the national and international boards, the state school education department has decided to keep just one academic authority for designing syllabus, curriculum, assessment, teacher training and others for all the classes. This will be done by dissolving all the existing board of studies working under different agencies for developing the syllabus and other academic work. 

According to the government resolution issued by the department on Monday, a common board of curriculum-consisting of 250odd members- will be formed under the Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (MSCERT). These members will be appointed on the board of studies and expert committees in all the agencies MSCERT, state textbook bureau, Balbharti and Maharashtra state board so that there is a unity in thought. 

Currently, MSCERT looks after designing syllabus for classes 1 to 8 and training teachers, state board for Class 9 to 12 and the textbooks are printed by the state textbook bureau, Balbharti. They each appoint different members to their board of studies. “We are unable to upgrade the syllabus to the national and international level so far as there is no cohesion of thought among the different academic agencies working for primary to higher secondary education,” said Nand Kumar, principal secretary of the department. “If class 12 syllabus is upgraded to the international level and if the syllabus of other classes continues to be of a lower level, it will lead to a large number of students failing.” 

For this reason, the department has decided to have the same members in all the academic panels in these agencies. “Having the same people on the boards in all academic areas from syllabus making, textbook printing and assessment and evaluation, will help in bringing continuity in thought and vision in education from Class 1 to Class 12,” said Kumar. The appointments to the board of curriculum have already been done by calling for applicants online. 

Source | Hindustan Times | 26 April 2016