Syllabus vs. Curriculum

Main Difference

In our educational sector, we occasionally came across the terms like the curriculum and syllabus as in a common mindset they are the paperwork details that what one will be taught in the educational year or the term. Even with looking so much similar to each other, both these terms are quite different to each other. The syllabus is the educational document prepared by the teachers it tells the general information in the summarized form that what subjects and course outline will be studied to the students in this year or a specific time. On the other hand, the curriculum is the educational document that is planned by the school’s higher authorities; it refers to the entire content taught in an educational system. At the same time, it possess details about the objectives, lessons and academic content and the methodologies to be adopted for the successful transfer of the knowledge to the students.

Difference Between Syllabus and Curriculum

Comparison Chart

What is Syllabus?

The syllabus is the educational document that is descriptive in nature. It possesses the information and details about the academic content to be taught to the class during the one educational year or any other specific time. The syllabus is prepared individually by the trainer, so every of the teacher, trainer, or the educator has his syllabus. The examination board does the process of determining the course outline or the study portions to be covered in the different subjects. And at the same time, educational experts also does surveillance that what syllabus is being taught to the students of different educational standards. The syllabus, prepared by the teachers is purely meant for the students so they would know that what they will be taught in each of the subjects in this academic year or specific period. In other words, we can say that the syllabus is the summarized form of the academic course outline of each and every of the subject which is handed over the student so he/she should better know about the courses they will be taught. Other than the general subject outline, the syllabus also tells about the test schedules, assignments, projects and other such key educational techniques. The syllabus is distributed to the students even before the beginning of their classes; it works as the guideline for students.

What is Curriculum?

The curriculum is the educational documents that are perspective in nature. It possesses the information like course content both the academic content and the lessons, the objectives to be achieved through the course, and last but not the least it also describes the methodologies to be adopted by the teachers to taught the students the selected course content. The government establishes the curriculum at the district or provincial level, or the school’s top-notch administration prepares this document which is solely for the teachers. The curriculum has the wider scope as compared to the syllabus as it doesn’t only contains academic course outline, it also has plans for physical and mental exercises, different activities, with the aim to build confidence and let students behave in the best possible way. As we know that the syllabus is the subset of the curriculum, the teachers often prepare the syllabus using the curriculum.