The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Pursuing the sixth subject teaching & learning

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Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Pursuing the sixth subject teaching & learning

Meera Srinivasan

Photo: R. Ragu

GOING EXTRA MILE: Schoolchildren at the Principals’ seminar organised by Extramarks. com at Russian Cultural Centre in Chennai on Tuesday. —

CHENNAI: In addition to the five subjects they study in Plus-Two, a small group of students in CBSE schools in the city is simultaneously pursuing a sixth subject. It is sheer interest driving some students and while a few others consider it a viable fallback option. Nevertheless, most students who made such a choice find this additional subject coming in handy at collegiate level.

CBSE sources say it is mandatory for students to study English or Hindi as language apart from four other subjects in Plus-Two. A list of subjects is available for students to choose from, irrespective of whether they are in the science or commerce stream. Job-oriented courses such as fashion technology also find a place in this list.

In city schools, however, subjects such as informatics practices, physical education and more recently, geography, have been on students’ list of sixth subject options.

In Hindu Senior Secondary School, for instance, about 15 students have opted for Physical Education as the sixth subject this year. “We have been offering this elective for many years now. As a school that is very active in the sports front, we thought students would be interested in this subject,” says principal of the school Padmini Sriram. The subject, which has both theoretical and practical elements, is a big hit among students who took the subject, she says.

Informatics Practices is another popular option among students. While some choose it in place of mathematics or computer science, a few see a point in pursuing it as an additional subject. “Today, almost every field requires knowledge of computers. Such subjects will certainly add value to one’s resume,” says Revathy Bharat, parent of a class X student.

Added advantage

In fact, some students think pursuing subjects such as geography as the sixth subject gives them an advantage while applying for courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Manoj Ramachandran, a second year student of the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at IIT-Madras is very glad he took Geography in addition to his five subjects in Plus Two. “It not only helped me in the entrance examination for this course, but also makes understanding of several other subjects in my course easier,” he says.

Yes, it demanded more effort and better time management in his part, but he and his other friends who did the sixth subject had a lot of fun learning. “You can’t study a subject just because it will fetch you something later. You have to basically like it,” he adds.

More career options

Besides opening up options in academics, a student also has more choice while deciding on her career, point out teachers. “Today, a subject like Geography has gained so much importance. Students have a wide range of options in careers pertaining to remote sensing, geology, environment and traffic management,” says Mahalakshmi Ramji, geography teacher, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan. She feels that offering Geography with the sciences would also provide students an interesting option as “Geography is the mother of all sciences.”

There are also schools such as Bala Vidya Mandir which do not have students pursuing an extra subject. “If we have the demand, we will certainly offer it,” says Principal of the school S. S. Nadan.

However, some school Principals also feel that there is a tendency to use the score obtained in the sixth subject instead of that secured in another to boost the total when results are declared. Also, in the south, students’ choice of the additional subject is restricted to what the school is willing to offer, they add.

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