In the academic year which began on Wednesday, the shift to CBSE pattern among schools stood out among the few changes brought by the government this year. The government also introduced new uniforms and separate buses for boys and girls for the academic year.
Chief Minister Rangasamy said on Tuesday that while Puducherry and Karaikal have been following the Tamil Nadu syllabus, Mahe has been following the Kerala syllabus and Yanam, Andhra Pradesh syllabus.
A committee headed by CBSE Chennai regional officer D T S Rao had recommended adopting the CBSE pattern, which the government decided to implement, he said.
The city is home to a flourishing school education system that has about 710 schools under government as well as private sector. There are 435 schools under the administrative control of the Directorate of School Education alone. The implementation, which will be carried out in a phased manner, will see English medium schools adopt the CBSE pattern from classes 1 to 5 this academic year. Other classes will adopt it in the successive years. For Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam medium schools, the CBSE pattern will be implemented only in Class 1 this academic year. Education Department officials confirmed that students of Class 1 would be receiving textbooks of the CBSE pattern.
