Competitive exam students look to private tuitions with lack of clarity over syllabus after NCERT revision

As schools prepare to limit their syllabus following the rationalisation of NCERT syllabus this academic year, students and their parents are seeking clarity on the syllabus of competitive exams. With schools set to follow the rationalised syllabus, students are now looking towards private tuitions, coaching classes and other such dummy schools to fulfill their needs in order to appear for exams like CUET and other such competitive exams, The Hindu reported.

As of now, the government has not clarified whether the deletions from the syllabus will also be applied to these competitive exams or not.

“The lack of clarity is costing parents several lakhs (close to Rs 20 lakh in two years in the form of school and coaching fees for a single science stream student preparing for competitive exam in the Capital),’’ Mamta Singh, who shifted from Patna to Delhi to enrol her son in a well-known coaching institute that prepares students for engineering entrance exams, told The Hindu.

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Singh adds that regular schools have made it clear that they will be teaching only the syllabus outlined by the Board. “This leaves the students totally dependent on coaching. There is simply no escaping it,’’ she told the daily.

The Hindu also quoted another parent as saying, “at the end of the day, the student has to be ready to face the competition. Since no clarity or deletion has been announced for competitive exams and because the syllabus is so intrinsically interrelated, the student has little room to manoeuvre. He has to study the syllabus in its entirety.’’ According to the report, this parent pays a whopping Rs 1,500 per subject for an 80-minute class. “They have included CUET preparation as a discount,’’ she adds.

NCERT syllabus is rated highly among students preparing for competitive exams with many considering it the best source to prepare for government exams, entrance exams and even regular college entrance exams.

NCERT’s recent move to cut down on syllabus in its bid to rationalise it has invited sharp criticism. Even with mounting criticism, the NCERT chief continues to back the move by saying that the decision was taken to reduce the study load from students affected by learning loss during the Covid-19 pandemic.