Difference Between Syllabus and Curriculum

Syllabus can be defined as a description outline and synopsis of topics which are meant to be covered during an educational programme in a school, college, university or any other institution. It is related to a particular course and is documented by the administration of the institution or the director/instructor. It is usually given by the instructor to the students at the start of the course so that they may be able to get a blink of the topics which they are going to study during their classes.

On the other hand, curriculum is a set of subjects or courses including their content which are being offered by the school, college or university to the students in different programmes. It is issued by the administration of the educational institution along with the prospectus so that the students may get an idea about the programme. Moreover, it also includes the criteria of grading related to the programmes which are being offered by the institute.

Instructions

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    Syllabus

    It is a brief statement or an outline of the main topics of a course which the lecturer or instructor will cover during all his lectures. Furthermore, it may include the contact number and email of the course instructor and the teacher assistant. In addition, it enlightens the students about their assignments and the deadlines to submit their work. It may also include the grading policy of the instructor and the particular rules which the students must follow during the classes e.g. emphasis on attendance and discipline.

    The syllabus can also be issued by the board of education or the head of department. But, the instructor can modify it to make it easier for the students to comprehend. The most common types of syllabus include notional-functional syllabus, skill-based syllabus, task-based syllabus, learner-generated syllabus grammatical syllabus, lexical syllabus, situational syllabus, text-based syllabus, , mixed syllabus and online course syllabus.

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    Curriculum

    It is an aggregate of all the courses which are to be studied by the students in a particular programme. It is usually a part of the prospectus and is issued by the administration of the institution. It also tells about the grading system related to different programmes and the minimum marks which the student must score in order to continue his or her studies.

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