Students find NCERT syllabus hard, SDMC to introduce simpler books for class 1

Finding it hard to implement the syllabus designed by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for students of class 1, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is planning to introduce simpler text books for their school students.

Sharing the reason for change, standing committee chairman Bhupendra Gupta said, “The children in Municipal Corporation schools start learning English language from class 1 onwards, while the books designed for class 1 by NCERT have complete sentences and lessons in English language. This makes it difficult for kids to grasp the words and understand their meaning in just one year.”

“Similarly the book designed for Mathematics has complete calculations and I don’t think majority of the children even understand the reasoning behind them,” he added.

To simplify the procedure, the decision has been taken to form a committee which would work on selecting books based on the aptitude and level of understanding of students studying in MCD schools.

However, a senior official said that the decision won’t be easy to implement as a fixed syllabus is followed in all classes under government and aided schools.

“But the NCERT is in the process of revising the syllabus and it has already invited suggestions from all concerned body including the Municipal Corporation. We are hoping to see some amendments in the difficulty level of these text books,” said a senior official, education department.

Meanwhile, an official from NCERT said that the books for elementary education are designed by the committee which has members from various educational backgrounds, including MCD teachers. “They are aware about the mindset of child studying in government/aided schools and all such points are taken into consideration before finalising any text book.”