School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan on Friday said that no government order has been issued for converting 1,200 government schools -- that have less than 10 students enrolled -- into libraries in Tamil Nadu.
Interacting with journalists after distributing welfare assistance to beneficiaries at Kullampalayam village in Gobichettipalayam, the Minister, however, said that the issue is under consideration, but no decision has been taken so far.
“You should decide whether two teachers are needed for a school with less than 10 students,” he said and added that the government needs to consider the expenses incurred towards maintaining such schools and paying salaries to the teachers. But the Minister clarified that no decision has been taken on the issue and steps are being taken to improve the enrolment in these schools.
NEET coaching
Asked if the School Education Department had taken steps to increase NEET coaching enrolment in view of 11 new medical colleges being started, he said that 21,000 students had registered for the online NEET coaching, but only 5,817 students are attending the classes. “This is the only State government in the country conducting online classes for NEET free of cost,” he claimed.
Clarifying about NEET coaching classes being conducted online even though schools were reopened, the Minister said that the State has no trainers to coach students to face the competitive examinations conducted by the Central government. Mr. Sengottaiyan said that initial learning level assessments of students of classes 10 and 12, which faced technical glitches, are being conducted in all the government schools in the State.
He said no decision has been taken on conducting practical examinations for Plus Two students and the issue will be discussed with the Chief Minister soon.
