As in the previous academic year, the Tamil Nadu School Education department had announced a reduction in the syllabus in August for the 2021-22 academic year. However, teachers are worried that the same had not been in the case of French language as they have to race against time to complete the portions.
“Schools reopened only on September 1 after the first three months of the academic year and language teachers in most schools were not given more than two periods first two weeks. It is only from this week that we are allotted at least three periods,” said A. Chandrasekaran, secretary, Indian Association of Teachers of French (South Zone).
Mr. Chandrasekaran said at least 35% of the syllabus should be reduced and hoped that the department would release a prioritised syllabus for French, Hindi and Sanskrit for senior students. Schools reopened for students of Classes IX to XII on September 1.
M. Dhivyadharshini, who teaches French in a city school, said it would help students if the syllabus was reduced given that all other subjects had prioritised portions. “This has to be done carefully by language experts and teachers since lessons cannot be omitted at random. The grammar component is well structured as a part of the current syllabus,” she added.
