The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the updated syllabi for Computer Science and Information Technology for the academic year 2024-25. These revisions aim to align the curriculum with the evolving technological landscape, ensuring that students acquire relevant and contemporary skills. This comprehensive guide delves into the key changes and components of the updated syllabi, providing educators, students, and stakeholders with a clear understanding of what to expect in the upcoming academic year.
CBSE Class XI Computer Science Syllabus (2024-25)
The Class XI Computer Science curriculum is designed to lay a strong foundation in computational thinking and programming. The syllabus is structured into three main units:
Computer Systems and Organisation (10 Marks)
- Basic Computer Organisation: Introduction to computer systems, hardware, software, input and output devices, CPU, memory (primary, cache, and secondary), and units of memory (bit, byte, KB, MB, GB, TB, PB).
- Types of Software: System software (operating systems, system utilities, device drivers), programming tools and language translators (assembler, compiler, interpreter), and application software.
- Operating System (OS): Functions of the operating system and OS user interface.
- Boolean Logic: NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR operations, truth tables, De Morgan’s laws, and logic circuits.
- Number System: Binary, octal, decimal, and hexadecimal number systems; conversion between these systems.
- Encoding Schemes: ASCII, ISCII, and Unicode (UTF8, UTF32).
Computational Thinking and Programming - I (45 Marks)
- Introduction to Problem-Solving: Steps for problem-solving, including analyzing the problem, developing an algorithm, coding, testing, and debugging; representation of algorithms using flowcharts and pseudocode; decomposition.
- Basics of Python Programming: Introduction to Python, its features, executing a simple "hello world" program, execution modes (interactive and script), Python character set, tokens (keyword, identifier, literal, operator, punctuator), variables, concept of l-value and r-value, and the use of comments.
- Data Types: Number (integer, floating point, complex), boolean, sequence (string, list, tuple), None, mapping (dictionary), mutable and immutable data types.
- Operators: Arithmetic, relational, logical, assignment, augmented assignment, identity (is, is not), and membership operators (in, not in).
- Expressions and Statements: Precedence of operators, expression evaluation, type conversion (explicit and implicit), accepting data as input from the console, and displaying output.
- Errors: Syntax errors, logical errors, and runtime errors.
Society, Law, and Ethics (15 Marks)
- Cyber Safety: Safely browsing the web, using social networks, identity protection, proper usage of passwords, privacy, confidentiality, cyberstalking, and reporting cybercrimes.
- Technology and Society: Understanding the value of technology in societies, considering gender and disability issues while teaching and using computers.
The practical component (30 Marks) includes a lab test focusing on Python programming, a report file with a minimum of 20 Python programs, and a project that utilizes the concepts learned.
CBSE Class XII Computer Science Syllabus (2024-25)
Building upon the Class XI foundation, the Class XII syllabus delves deeper into advanced topics:
Computational Thinking and Programming – 2 (40 Marks)
- Revision of Python Topics: A quick recap of Class XI Python topics.
- Functions: Types of functions (built-in, module-defined, user-defined), creating user-defined functions, arguments and parameters, default and positional parameters, functions returning values, flow of execution, and variable scope (global and local).
- Exception Handling: Introduction to handling exceptions using try-except-finally blocks.
- File Handling: Introduction to files, types of files (text, binary, CSV), relative and absolute paths.
- Text Files: Opening, reading, writing, appending, and manipulating data in text files.
- Binary Files: Basic operations using file modes, importing the pickle module, and performing read, write, search, append, and update operations.
- CSV Files: Importing the csv module, opening/closing CSV files, writing into and reading from CSV files.
- Data Structures: Stacks, operations on stacks (push & pop), and implementation using lists.
Computer Networks (10 Marks)
- Evolution of Networking: Introduction to computer networks and their evolution (ARPANET, NSFNET, INTERNET).
- Data Communication Terminologies: Concept of communication, components of data communication, measuring capacity of communication media, IP addresses, and switching techniques (circuit and packet switching).
- Transmission Media: Wired (twisted pair cable, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable) and wireless media (radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves).
- Network Devices: Modem, Ethernet card, RJ45, repeater, hub, switch, router, gateway, Wi-Fi card.
- Network Topologies and Types: Types of networks (PAN, LAN, MAN, WAN), networking topologies (bus, star, tree).
- Network Protocols: HTTP, FTP, PPP, SMTP, TCP/IP, POP3, HTTPS, TELNET, VoIP.
- Introduction to Web Services: WWW, HTML, XML, domain names, URLs, websites, web browsers, web servers, web hosting.
**Database Management