Calcutta, March 26: Madhyamik examinees will soon have a trimmer syllabus to grapple with, as the government is planning to restrict the questions to the topics taught only in Class X.

Now, Madhyamik questions are set on combined syllabus of classes IX and X.

The system was introduced long ago by the Delhi-based Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations and the Central Board of Examinations. The Bengal government itself had introduced it in the Higher Secondary exams last year.

“A comprehensive exercise is on to overhaul the school education system. Our main objective is to reduce examrelated stress that students go through. As part of the exercise, we are considering the restriction of the Madhyamik syllabus to the Class X topics,” school education minister Partha Dey said in the Assembly lobby today.

The minister refused to set a deadline, saying the government “will need some time to decide when the system will come into force”, but sources said the education department wants to introduce the truncated syllabus by 2010.

“The department wants to implement the system at the earliest, as Madhyamik is the only board exam in the state that still sticks to the practice of setting questions on the combined syllabi of two classes,” said an official.

“The government has held a series of discussions on the issue with various teacher associations,” the official added.

“As a first step towards bifurcating the Madhyamik course, the state board of secondary education has restructured the internal exams from classes VI to X in its affiliated schools. Now, apart from the annual exams, the schools also hold a series of unit and block tests,” said an education department official.