Panel to focus on cutting down tuition

KOLKATA: The state government wants the 19-member syllabus committee, led by Sunanda Sanyal, to focus on a more up-to-date curriculum and better evaluation system so as to reduce the dependence on private tuition. 

Learning by rote has become a practice among students in schools under the state board. And the predictable question pattern is encouraging cramming of texts and increasing the student's dependence on private tuition, say experts. The committee has to suggest ways to improve the syllabus and exam pattern so as to improve a student's understanding of the subject and reduce rote learning. 

"The panel will review the syllabi and textbooks for the entire spectrum of school education, from Class I to Class XII, and recommend changes in line with the National Curriculum Framework - 2005," an education department official said. 

The committee will also examine the process of continuous evaluation practiced by various boards, including holding unit tests, and recommend a 'scientific policy of evaluation without creating undue pressure and mental stress'.