The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has proposed a slew of changes in its curriculum for Nursery to Class VIII to ease pressure on students.

Teaching each topic for longer, splitting topics and reducing the weightage of marks in each are some of the measures suggested in the proposed system, a source said.

"The council's plan is to ease students' pressure so that there is a smooth upward mobility of students till they clear the board exams. There has been no increase in the volume of the syllabus. But the distribution of topics in each subject taught at different levels - pre-primary, primary and upper primary - has been reorganised in a way that students find it easier to learn," said Gerry Arathoon, the chief executive and secretary of CISCE.

One recommendation is that schools continue teaching multiplication tables till Class V. At present, schools complete teaching till the 15 times table by Class III. Students of most schools are made to memorise the 15 times table in Class II.

"Several parents complain it is difficult to make six-year and seven-year-old kids memorise 14 and 15 times tables. If the tables are taught till Class V, there will be less pressure on children and it will also help them memorise better," said the principal of an ICSE school.

Similarly, the council has suggested teaching algebra, geometry and arithmetic over a longer period of time.

The question pattern, too, will change. For instance, a principal said a question that carried 15 marks in the existing system will carry 10.

To reduce pressure in social sciences, the council has advised that schools continue to teach a combined syllabus of history and geography till Class V. There should be 70 marks for history and 30 for geography in Class III. In Class IV, the two subjects should be given equal weightage and for Class V students, the weightage on geography and history should be 70 and 30 per cent.

In the existing system, ICSE schools start teaching history and geography as separate subjects from Class III.

The council has suggested that science should be taught as environmental studies in classes I and II.

English being the only medium of instruction in ICSE schools, focus should be on developing proficiency in the language at all levels.

The proposed curriculum was released at the annual conference of the Association of Heads of ICSE Schools - an organisation of heads of non-Anglo-Indian schools - in Lucknow on Wednesday. This is the first time in its 64-year history that the council has prescribed a uniform syllabus for Nursery to VII for its affiliates.

"The uniform syllabus will offer schools a clear idea about how much to teach at a particular level," said Nabarun Dey, the principal of Central Modern School in Calcutta.

Another principal pointed out it was not mandatory to incorporate the changes. "We welcome the council's move. But it is not binding to follow the council's syllabus from Nursery to VIII," the principal said after checking the new syllabus on the CISCE website.