SMS should be in syllabus

The Madhyamik (secondary examination of my state) syllabus has been thoroughly revised. In our time — I gave Madhyamik in 2003 — we had telegram-writing. It carried 10 marks in the English paper. Now that the syllabus has been restructured, I wonder if it is still there. I, for one thing, think that telegram-writing should be phased out from the syllabus. After all, who bothers to send a telegram these days? Instead SMS-writing should be incorporated in the syllabus. This is one way we can keep up with the changing times. Be it an SMS or a telegram, the challenge before the pupil is the same — that is, summing up a given situation in a concise form.