Do we need to know the stages for meiosis and mitosis? I mean even briefly. I learnt them in great detail earlier only to realise they havent even been hinted at in the syllabus.
No you don't. Look in the syllabus, you only need to know definitions I quote: "details of stages are NOT required".
Definitions:
Mitosis: Nuclear division giving rise to genetically identical cells in which the chromsome number is maintained by the exact duplication of chromosomes.
Meiosis: Reduction division in which the chromosome number is halved from diploid to haploid.
Hope tha thelps!