DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Wednesday charged the State Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan with seeking publicity by making announcements on a daily basis. Mr. Stalin said the Minister should focus on upgrading primary and secondary education, pedagogical methods and improve teacher recruitments instead of engaging in stunts like introducing grade system, changing uniform and introducing public exams for Class 11. He said that the G.O. that was published on May 22 regarding conducting a public examination for Class XI and could affect the lives of over 8 lakh students was based on a letter written by the Director Of Government Examinations on May 17.
“One can’t help but wonder whether this decision is an effort to project the idea that we are also working to improve the standards of education,” Mr. Stalin said.
He rejected the State government’s argument that the quality of education was bad because schools were not teaching Class XI syllabus as misleading. “After realising the emotional stress of consecutive examinations, the Kothari committee went on to bifurcate higher secondary into two years which led to the present day system,” he said.
Adverse impact
He said that conducting public examinations for Class X, XI and XII consecutively would have an adverse impact on the mental health of students, noting that after completing their school education, the students also had to write NEET.
