Mita Mukherjee

The ICSE council is planning to introduce two levels of mathematics, one for students who have no difficulty with the existing syllabus, the other which will be easier in comparison, will be meant for those who face problems in coping with the subject, Gerry Arathoon, secretary and chief executive of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), said.

Mathematics is a crucial subject and it is important for every student to develop a certain level of proficiency in the subject to achieve success in life. At the same time many students are weak in the subject or there is an inherent fear in their minds which leads to failures or drop in the overall percentage of marks in the board exams.

The CISCE, which is known to be a child-friendly board, intends to introduce two levels of mathematics so that students who are weak in the subject can learn the basic and important concepts. They will not have to learn the difficult topics and the difficulty level of the questions would also not be very high which will help them to do well in the exams, Arathoon said.   

The council had introduced the system of allowing students to drop mathematics in Class IX and X several years ago.

But guardians and students who are weak in mathematics and who do not want to pursue the subject after Class X continue to complain that many ICSE schools are still “forcing” them to study mathematics.

 “The council allows students to drop mathematics in IX and X. But many schools do not allow them to do so. So we are planning to introduce two levels of mathematics. The content of one of the levels will be easier, so that students who are weak in the subject and are not able to cope with the existing syllabus find the subject interesting,” Arathoon told EducationWorld.

Arathoon said the New Education Policy NEP) 2020 has suggested boards to consider having two levels of mathematics and the council’s plans to introduce the new system is in tune with the NEP recommendation.

The syllabus, classroom teaching methods and assessment system of the two levels will be different from each other.

 The council will have to seek the opinions of universities and colleges in this regard to ensure that students who would learn the easier level do not face any problem in pursuing the undergraduate courses after completing Class XII.

“ We will discuss our plan with the colleges. The process of preparing the syllabus will start after getting the confirmation from the colleges,” Artathoon said.

 The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) too has introduced two levels of mathematics – Standard and Basic.

Basic mathematics is meant for those who do not want to study the subject after Class X.

But, the syllabus, textbooks and teaching methods of the two levels are the same. The question papers in the CBSE Class X exams are only different. The questions in the Basic level are easy whereas those in the Standard are the same as earlier.  

Unlike the CBSE the ICSE council plans to have different syllabus and question patterns for those who do want to study the subject after Class X to ensure that they don’t need to study the whole range of subjects throughout the year.

Also Read: ICSE council prepares module on experiential learning