Higher Secondary Edu Council suggests computer crash course
Kolkata: The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) has suggested schools to conduct a computer course of short duration for Madhyamik examination 2024 examinees who wish to take up subjects like
Modern Computer Applications, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Applied Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Cyber Security for classes XI and XII.
The Council has already introduced Artificial Intelligence and Data Science as two new subjects in the HS Curriculum from academic year 2023-24. The other two new subjects – Applied Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security are going to be introduced from the academic year 2024-25. The syllabus of the existing subjects – Modern Computer Application and Computer Science has been upgraded to keep them relevant and contemporary.
Amid fresh initiatives by the Council to keep the schools under them at par with other boards, the authorities feel that a basic warm-up course is needed for the Madhyamik examinees of 2024 who are interested in taking up any one of the mentioned subjects.
Hence, they recommended a computer course of short duration which would give students a basic understanding of the subjects and help them guide better in choosing any one of them.
This computer course has been named ‘Bootstrap Program.’ “The schools have only been suggested and not compelled to conduct this course for the students who have appeared for Madhyamik Examination 2023,” the Council official stated. While city schools have welcomed the initiative, many are contemplating on how to take it up amid the pressure of election duty and summer projects.
The months of April and May can be used to conduct the course prior to the start of core HS curriculum. This course will have 14 classes each of 1.5 hours to 2 hours duration, comprising both theory and practical classes.
Theory classes may be conducted in classrooms or through online mode, as per the school’s convenience. In case a school is not in position to conduct the course, the study material provided by the Council can be shared amongst interested students which can help them prepare for the curriculum.
In case a school wants to conduct the course, the head of the institution has been asked to send an email mentioning the school’s details, schedule for the court and expected number of candidates. “In the language of Computer Science, a Bootstrap program is the first code that is executed when the Computer System is started. The entire operating system depends on the bootstrap program to work correctly as it loads the operating system,” the Council stated.
