The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBSE) has re-modelled its syllabus and evenly distributed it in Classes IX and X and a portion of it in Class VIII while keeping the content same. The modifications have been made keeping in view of the 2012 Class X examinations,which will be held on the basis of Class X syllabus only. From 2012,the academic session of the board will be changed from the existing May-April to January-December. Mamata Ray,the president of the board,said in the new academic calendar,the students of Class IX will get 31 effective instructional weeks while Class X students will get 29. Earlier,a student would get only 18 effective instructional weeks in Class X and the remaining in class IX. Hence the burden of covering most of the syllabus was on class IX. Since we are getting more time for our students in Class X,the portion of class IX syllabus would be brought into Class X for more effective teaching-learning, she said. The board has also decided to bring certain portion of the mathematics syllabus of Class VIII in Class IX. Board officials say this has been done in view of the perception that Class VIII maths syllabus is exhaustive and a number of students fail in the subject. The board has also decided to come up with model question papers for Class IX students. Students who will be in Class IX in the academic session 2010-11 will have the re-modelled syllabus. The WBBSE has advised that students will have to go by the remodelled,bifurcated Board books to avoid any confusion. The new text books will be available in both English and Bengali and the name and the price of the books will remain unchanged,Board officials said. Earlier,the Board had a joint syllabus for Class IX and X with one textbook and in the Class X Board examinations,the students were rated on the combined syllabus of both the classes. Meanwhile,the board has also started working on a national syllabus for Class X keeping in mind the recommendations at the national level.
