After schools reopen for students of Classes IX to XII from September 1, the first few days will be dedicated to revisions and bridge courses in government and private State board schools in Tamil Nadu.
Along with the announcement for a prioritised syllabus, the School Education Department had released a refresher course module for Classes II to XII, prepared by the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT), to bridge learning gaps as a majority of the children had not attended physical classes for over a year.
“For students of Classes IX to XII, who will be back in school from September 1, we will have refresher courses in the initial weeks. Since it has been a long time since they attended physical classes, we will plan their schedule in a way that they do not have to sit for prolonged hours,” said G. Shanmugavel, headmaster, Government Higher Secondary School, MGR Nagar.
Mr. Shanmugavel said that for students who could not attend online classes regularly, the revision would be of great help.
The refresher courses prepared by the SCERT will deal with foundational concepts in the subject as well as important concepts pertaining to the previous class.
The department has said that an assessment could be conducted after its completion to identify areas where reinforcement would be needed.
“For many teachers, all our focus will be on ensuring that students are not daunted when they come back to school. For Class XII students in particular, they had attended school only for two months during their previous academic year and having a bridge course and revision of fundamental concepts will be important,” said K.P.O. Suresh, president, Tamil Nadu Post Graduate Teachers’ Association.
While private schools had steady online lessons all through the previous academic year, several schools will dedicate at least the first two weeks to revisions and clarifying doubts of students.
“For the first two weeks, we are planning to have a thorough revision of the syllabus completed from June to August this academic year,” said K. Vasudevan, chairman, Prince Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
