New school syllabus will be from 2028 academic year: Bengal Education Minister
Kolkata, Aug 4
West Bengal School Education Minister Dipak Burman on Tuesday said the new school syllabus in the state will be effective from the 2028 academic year.
The minister attended the first meeting of the new syllabus committee headed by Professor Kalyan Chakraborty. The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for School Education Koushik Chowdhury and State Education Secretary Vinod Kumar.
At the end of the meeting, Burman told media persons that the syllabus committee had started preparing a long‑term roadmap to develop the current and future generations of the state.
He said the existing textbooks would be retained and reviewed in the 2027 academic year, but a major restructuring of the education system and curriculum would be introduced in 2028.
He added that due to a lack of time, there will be no change in the syllabus for 2027, adding that as per tradition, books will be delivered to students before the 'Book Day' in West Bengal on January 2, 2027.
"However, after the draft of the new curriculum and syllabus for the 2028 academic year is prepared, it will be made public and opinions will be sought from political and student organisations," he said.
Burman said that sensitive issues like the semester system or the return of the pass‑fail system will be considered in the new syllabus for 2028, following the guidelines of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP).
He added that all attempts would be made to free the new syllabus from political influence.
Referring to the inclusion of a chapter during the previous Mamata Banerjee‑led regime on the land acquisition movement at Singur in Hooghly district led by the Trinamool Congress in 2007, Burman said that there will be no politics in the curriculum.
"There will be a fear‑free environment and scientific mindset. Educationists will consider whether it is reasonable to include Singur or recent history in the textbooks," he said.
He further added that the government will decide accordingly based on the syllabus committee's recommendations.
Burman also said English medium schools started during the previous regime would continue.
"Proposals are being considered to improve their quality and academic standards. Discussions are underway to make Sanskrit more popular," he added.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good that they're taking time to prepare, but what about the students who will be in 10th or 12th grade in 2028? Their entire board exam prep depends on the syllabus. Also, I hope the political reference to Singur removal doesn't whitewash history. Let educationists decide, not politicians.
I appreciate the minister's commitment to keep politics out of curriculum. But I'm curious about the semester system - it works well in universities, but for school children, especially in rural areas, that's a huge change. The government should ensure proper teacher training before implementing anything.
As a teacher in a government school, I welcome this long-term approach. We need clarity! Currently we juggle between changing textbooks and unclear guidelines. But please involve teachers in the committee - we know what works in the classroom. Also, promoting Sanskrit is good but don't neglect other regional languages.
Interesting that they're considering NEP 2020 guidelines. I'm an NRI from Kolkata and I've seen how NEP is being implemented in other states. The idea of experiential learning is great, but the infrastructure needs massive upgrades first. Also, will this affect ICSE/cBSE schools in Bengal? Need more clarity.
The announcement is fine but I'm skeptical about the implementation timeline. Elections are due in 2026 - what if the government changes? The new administration might scrap everything again. That's the problem with our education system - it becomes a political football. Still, kudos for at least planning ahead this time.
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