Students Concerned Over CBSE Move To Restore Full Syllabus Amid Pandemic

The Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) decision to retain 100 per cent syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 for this session, unlike 30 per cent reduction last year, has hit students hard

Bhushan, 16, a Class 11 student and his 15-year-old sister Renuka, who is in Class 10, live in a one-room house in Delhi's Trilokpuri. They are among thousands of students across India who have not gone to school for the last one year and have to depend on online classes. The Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) decision to retain 100 per cent syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 for this session, unlike 30 per cent reduction last year, has hit them hard. In their case, the challenge is bigger - they take online classes in evening on their only phone in the family when their father returns home from work. With a family income of Rs 15,000 a month, their parents can't afford another smartphone. Their mother is a social worker and father is a clerk in a small private office. "Their father leaves at 7.30-8 in the morning and till evening there is no phone. They miss all the classes. They access the videos only when he comes back, but they miss the opportunity to ask questions to their teachers during live classes. There is nobody to solve their doubts. It has been very hard for them and covering the whole syllabus is out of their reach," said Jyoti Mahore, mother of the two siblings.