SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUS
Education system much like other institutions is vulnerable to change. The changing socio-economic and political institutions make it compulsory for education system to observe similar changes. Education system reflects whatever is in the society and since there is so much dynamism in the society, education system has to conform to the changes.
School curriculum and education system are closely associated. Both of them are ideas and school curriculum happens to be more elusive to define than education system. One accepted definition of school curriculum is that it is a systematic set of instructions and experiences that are required to educate the pupils. This definition, however, restricts the meaning of the curriculum. School curriculum also defines the purposes and objectives of learning.
School Curriculum and School Syllabus
People often get confused when they are told to differentiate between school syllabus and school curriculum. School syllabus refers to the content that is to be taught in any class or grade. Curriculum refers to the totality of the content, the objectives, goals and the education philosophy practised by any school or education system. Syllabus as such forms a part of the curriculum.
School curriculum partake a complete ordered manner in which a particular subject matter is to be taught to the students. It also calls for the assessment and evaluation to see the effectiveness of the teaching method, the manner in which it was taught and the reception of the pupil.
Curriculum, therefore, is a collection of the courses offered by a school. Syllabus is an outline that presents the curriculum for any specific class. For instance, if we would say about Cell Biology for grade X, it would be contained in the syllabus. The manner and the content in which essentialities of cell biology would be taught will be the curriculum.
Curriculum Development
As it is obvious, curriculum plays a vital role in determining the final outcome of a school course. Curriculum is designed keeping in mind various educational requirements of the students, their age, stage of development and available resources. There are specialists who keep on developing the matter of the curriculum as time progresses.
Curriculum development is essential for a school or any educational institution. As was mentioned earlier the education system and hence requirements keep on changing. In the last two decades there has been a sea change observed in technological field. All the developments in the technological field have made their impact in many other fields and areas of study. Therefore frequent updations have become inevitable.
Today, new methods of teaching and learning are being discovered. All the cumulative changes have made their impressions on the school curriculum. Curriculum and its development, hence, continue to be a very important concern for educationists.
