Common syllabus for all boards from 2011

Starting from the academic year 2011-12, the science and mathematics curriculum for standards XI and XII will be uniform across all boards — HSC, ICSE and CBSE. This means all junior colleges will teach the same topics and subjects and entrance examinations for various professional and degree courses will be based on the new syllabus.

By 2013, if the Union human resources ministry (HRD) has its way, there will only be one single examination for entrance to engineering and medical colleges in the country. “Efforts will be to hold an all-India national test from 2013. This will smoothen the admission process into engineering and medical courses,” said Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal.

More than 127,000 senior secondary schools in India will have to adopt the new syllabus for standards  XI and XII after a decision  was taken to this effect by the Council of Boards of School Education (Cobse) on Tuesday. All state and private boards are members of Cobse, which is headed by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) chairman Vineet Joshi. The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) board is also party to this decision.

Till now the various boards had the flexibility to adopt their own curriculums. That will end soon, as a common syllabus has been drawn up in consultation with all the boards. The move is part of the Union government’s education reforms to prevent dropouts, failures and student stress even while providing a level playing field for all. A similar core curriculum will now be prepared for commerce and the humanities, too.

“This (common syllabus for maths and science) has been accepted by all the state boards. This core curriculum will be taught in all schools. This will help students compete on an equal footing at the national-level entrance tests for the IITs and for medical colleges,” said Sibal.

“A common syllabus will help bring the competence of children to the same level,” said Poonam Sodhi, deputy secretary of the ICSE board. The National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) will now update the textbooks based on the new
curriculum.

The plan to have a common, single examination for all medical and engineering colleges means creating a test on the lines of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) conducted in the United States.

Currently, each state holds separate entrance tests for admissions to engineering courses while the IITs and NITs have separate tests. Similarly, there are multiple examinations for admissions into medical colleges held by the centre and states.

The HRD ministry feels that a common entrance test will smoothen the admission process as students will not end up having to write exams repeatedly. A task force to work out the modalities will be set up by the ministry.