Missing subject alert in schools

Students in schools affiliated to the state board are in for chaos this academic year. According to Maharashtra Shikshak Paris­had, there has been a significant change in curriculum for Std VII and IX -- Information Technology (IT) as a subject has been removed from the course -- but schools have little clarity on the subject that has replaced it. The changes are expected to come in force in the academic year starting June.

Anil Bornare, chief of the teachers' union, said, "Schools have no clue about changes in the curriculum. Which subject will replace IT? Who will train teachers in the new subject and when? The entire process of preparing the academic timetable has been delayed." Bornare added that the union has written to the state board on the issue.

Though experts in the field of IT were hired to teach it, few classes of the same were included in the curriculum. "If IT is removed from the course, what is expected of the teachers hired to teach the subject? These are important decisions and announcements, which cannot arrive at the last moment, before an academic year begins," said the principal of a reputable school in Andheri.