Tamil Nadu overhauls school education system

Besides revising the examination pattern by reducing the maximum marks in Class 11 and Class 12 to 600 marks from 1,200 and reduction of examination duration to 2 hours and 30 min from three hours, the Minister also said that students who failed in Class 11 board exams could take up the same next year indicating that no student would be detained in Class 11. The government orders for the revision of syllabi and examination pattern were issued on Monday. 

On revision of syllabi, Sengottaiyan said the students would be equipped with a state-sponsored practical study guide, and a similar teaching handbook will be made available for teachers too. “A special class of one hour duration in a designated school in every block in the state during school days, and a three-hour class will be conducted on Saturdays by resource teachers. The classes would also prepare the students to face any common tests administered by the Centre, besides helping them to keep up with the syllabus revision,” Sengottaiyan said. 

“The syllabi for Classes 1 to 10 were revised seven years ago, and the revision to syllabi up to Class 12, revised 12 years ago, will be on a par with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabi. I know some will raise objections the revision. I would like to clarify that Tamil heritage, History, Culture, Arts, and Literature will form a considerable portion of the syllabi to enable our students take pride on these aspects in order to help boost their confidence,” Sengottaiyan said. 

Detailing the roll out of the revised syllabi, the Minister said it would be done in three phases. In the first phase in 2018 – 2019, the syllabi to Classes – 1, 6, 9, 11 would be revised and in the second – 2019-2020, the syllabi to Classes – 2,7, 10, 12 would be revised. The syllabi to Classes – 3, 4, 5, 8 would be revised in the final phase in 2020 – 2021. 

Asked whether the state would take inputs from the stakeholders, the Minister said the high-level committee formed for this purpose would get responses from all the stakeholders before finalising the revision. “The high-level committee came up with the proposal after considering the syllabi revisions implemented in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra,” he added.