Journalism of Courage
Maharashtra school education minister Dada Bhuse said in the Legislative Assembly on Monday that state board schools will transition to a CBSE curriculum in a phased manner by 2028.
He informed the Assembly that the curriculum for Class 1 will be updated starting in the upcoming academic year. Changes to the curriculum for other grades will occur in the following years—classes 2, 3, 4, and 6 will be revised in 2026; classes 5, 7, 9, and 11 will undergo changes in 2027 and finally, classes 8, 10, and 12 will be updated in 2028.
Bhuse stated that the CBSE pattern will emphasise understanding concepts over rote learning. It will incorporate Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), which focuses on ongoing development rather than just final examinations. He mentioned that this approach would enhance students’ knowledge at the state, national, and international levels. Additionally, it will be beneficial for students preparing for competitive exams such as NEET, JEE, and UPSC.
Experts from Balbharati, the state textbook bureau, are currently studying NCERT textbooks to prepare the state board textbooks. Balbharti is still preparing the Class 1 textbook. Bhuse emphasised that the state board will continue to exist and that parents will not feel pressured to enrol their children in any specific board. He also assured that the importance of the Marathi language will remain intact, as all private and government schools have been instructed to teach Marathi.
Talking about the shift to CBSE curriculum, Rajendra Tathawde, principal of Pune Municipal Corporation-run (PMC) Marathi-medium school MANAPA Shala Khandwenagar, said, “When we went for training this year, we really liked this change that is going to be introduced. If implemented properly, change will be extremely beneficial to students, as even the poorest kids will be able to get good quality education. But it will take some time to match it with the SSC curriculum, as it is a bit more difficult.”
Ashok Langhe, principal of PMC’s Rashta Sant Acharya Anand Rushi English school, said, “This curriculum change will be good for the students. State board students find it difficult to compete with other boards in Classes 11 and 12 as their physics and maths portion is more detailed. They struggle in competitive exams. Our teachers are well trained, and if they are given more extensive training for the change in curriculum, they can definitely adjust to it.”
However, a teacher at a PMC-run school told The Indian Express that the long training programmes organised for the educators under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 are stressful. “We are required to attend full-day training, sometimes there are virtual meetings even on holidays. This means that teachers are absent from classes and students miss out. A teacher has to manage two classes as the other teacher is attending trainings. This is highly detrimental to students and teachers both. The change in curriculum is good, but the implementation needs to be non-stressful.”
