After Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani asked Kendriya Vidyalayas to remove German language from the curriculum and instead introduce Sanskrit, the ministry now plans to reintroduce class 10 board exams in CBSE schools, which was partially scrapped by Congress in 2011.
Irani is said to have considered bringing back board exams for class 10 students of CBSE schools after holding a meeting with some students in this regard. The ministry has claimed that the students told Irani in the meeting that they would want the exams back in their curriculum, according to IBNLive.
However, this decision will be taken only after gaining consensus over the matter during the next Central Advisory Board of Education meeting to be held after a month or two. The decision has so far received mixed reaction.
If they're bringing back compulsory board exams in class 10, that's a good thing.
— Sush (@SushGopalan) November 21, 2014@SushGopalan students are committing suicide after exam results. Unless you shift focus, pressure only increases. Less exams are good IMO.
— Sajad (@thironthoram) November 21, 2014Former HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had in 2011 made the class 10 board exams optional and introduced grading system to reduce pressure on students.
The changes in education policy, one after the other, is said to be disruptive for the students, who will have to adjust to the changed curriculum once again. After learning German for years, a shift to a new language may add to the pressure of a tedious syllabus.
Not only has the HRD Ministry been introducing new ideas for the students and changes in education policy, Sanskrit Bharati — an RSS outfit — has demanded that the government replace all foreign languages with Sanskrit.
"How can you be Indian without knowing Sanskrit?," The Times of India quoted Dinesh Kamath, all-India organising secretary of Sanskrit Bharati, as saying.
"It is the mother of Indo-European languages. This has resulted in Sanskrit taking a backseat whereas Persian and Urdu words have come into our daily life. For instance, what is the need to use words like darwaza (door) and akhbaar (newspaper)," he added.
