Bhubaneswar, Nov. 17: The academic council committee of the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) today approved the new syllabus for Plus Two.

The new syllabus, which will come into effect from the 2016-17 academic session, has been designed to be in line with the Central Bureau of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus.

The CHSE had completed the process of redesigning its syllabus in October. It had then submitted the syllabus to the academic council committee for screening.

CHSE chairman Basudev Chhotray said that the task of changing the syllabus had been assigned to senior Plus Two teachers and subject experts from across the state. At least 10 teachers were assigned the task for each subject.

The new syllabus is aimed to help Odia students fare better in competitive and national-level entrance exams.

"The syllabus has been changed in such a manner that it will be easier for students to prepare for competitive exams such as JEE, CAT, MAT, XAT and other competitive jobs," said a senior CHSE official.

The decision to change the syllabus was taken in October last year after the office of the accountant-general asked the state technical education department to furnish information regarding the number of students who qualified for the JEE (advanced) and (main) from the CHSE during 2013-14. Accordingly, information was sought on the number of students who have gained admissions into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

The audit had revealed that the quality of state higher secondary education remained far below that of CBSE and ICSE. The department was asked for an explanation on the "extremely poor" performance of the state board.