Now, Ennum Ezhuthum to aid classes 4, 5

CHENNAI: Owing to the success and positive impact, the Tamil Nadu government is all set to extend the ‘Ennum Ezhuthum’ scheme for Classes 4 and 5 students from the 2023-2024 academic year. State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is doing all preparations for the launch.

The scheme was launched to achieve literacy and numeracy among students of Classes 1 to 3, and to ensure that every child is able to read and understand languages as well as do basic arithmetic with comfort by the age of eight. Accordingly, its pedagogy is student-centric and designed in a customised, engaging manner incorporating singing, dancing, puppetry, and other activities.

A senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next that the TN government has decided to expand the Ennum Ezhuthum Mission to include Classes 4 and 5, allocating Rs 110 crore in 2023-24.

Stating that this year a robust monitoring mechanism is also being put in place to track the performance of each and every child, the official said the SCERT has completed preparing workbooks, which would be distributed to the students.

Stating that a circular for training schedule was issued to all the schools by SCERT, the official said training will be given in all subjects including Tamil, English, Mathematics, Science and Social Science.

M Gopinath of the TN Parents-Teachers Association said the scheme has tackled the learning gap caused due to school closures during the COVID-19 lockdown.

S Shoba, a civic worker at Anakaputhur, said her child, who completed Class 3, could not go to classes when she was in classes 1 and 2 due to total lockdown. “Ennum Ezhuthum helped my child to learn basic writing and gain knowledge in subjects,” she added.