Tamil Nadu students lagging behind in all India level entrance examinations such as Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Admission Test and VIT Engineering Entrance Examination is a worrying trend, say experts.
“In IIT-JEE, out of the 10,000 seats, Tamil Nadu students secured 188 seats, while Rajasthan secured 2,000 seats. Students of TN are lagging behind in these examinations. States like Rajasthan have been preparing students for all entrance examinations, while such a system is not there in TN,” G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University said.
He was speaking at the “Achievers’ Appreciation Day” organised at the university on Sunday to honour heads of 46 government and aided high schools and higher secondary schools that had achieved 100 per cent results in the board examinations last year.
“Tamil Nadu’s Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education is 38 per cent. It has crossed the national average of 20 to 21 per cent. But still, we are behind in such examinations, and this is worrying,” he said. He added that factors such as school curriculum, infrastructure, whether number of teachers is adequate, if training of teachers is adequate, students’ attendance and parents’ responsibility should be analysed.
He stressed the need for schools to prepare and equip students for institutes of higher education to succeed in the country.
“In India, schools require compound wall, drinking water, toilets, furniture, electricity, lights and fans in classrooms. In developed countries, schools require LCD projector, smart boards, computers, Internet and Wi-Fi connection. This is a huge difference,” he pointed out.
Mr. Viswanathan called upon the Central and State governments to increase spending on school and higher education. “Our young population that is a demographic dividend should be utilised by providing quality education, enabling them to compete globally. Basic infrastructure should be provided,” he emphasised. With mobile phones becoming part and parcel of students now, he said the gadgets could be utilised for teaching too, as in developed countries. “We should modernise our education and classrooms,” he said.
Earlier, while making his point on TN students not getting good ranks in entrance exams, S. Narayanan, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the university, said many felt that the State board syllabus was not on par with CBSE and ICSE curriculum. He suggested that changing the syllabus could help in good performance.
R. Bhoopathy, Chief Educational Officer, Vellore district, said, “Our students have the required knowledge but they face difficulty in the skill aspects, such as problem solving skills. They need training in this aspect.”
He urged the headmasters to concentrate on every student to avoid failures in the board exams.
Achievers’ Appreciation Day” was held at VIT university to honour school heads who had achieved 100 per cent results
