With the State government announcing on Thursday that schools will not be reopened on November 16, as had been announced, teachers have sought clarity regarding the proposed syllabus reduction, as well as the rest of the academic year, for Class 12 students in particular.
“While we welcome the decision, keeping in mind the health of the students, there needs to be some solution for government school students who are unable to access content or classes online. Since students of Class 12 have laptops, we appeal to the State government to provide them with data packs for the same,” said P.K. Ilamaran, president, Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Association. .
While the State government had proposed a reduction in syllabus, there has been no further guidelines on the same. “For students upto Class 10, directions on portions that have been reduced will immensely benefit the teachers taking online classes,” said K. Vasudevan, chairman, Prince Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
Teachers are concerned about students taking the Class 12 board exams in 2021. “A reduction in portions will not be feasible for them since they need to study the entire syllabus to perform well in competitive exams. We are hoping that we are allowed to hold guidance sessions, at schools, soon, at least for students of Class 12,” a teacher from Chennai said.
Free coaching classes
The School Education Department began free online coaching classes for students of government and aided schools earlier this week and around 14,000 students have signed up for it.
“The Tamil Nadu government should appeal to the Central government and ask for clarity on competitive exams scheduled for 2021, with regard to the syllabus for them. Keeping in mind this academic year, the curriculum for competitive exams such as NEET and JEE too should be reduced,” said Patric Raymond of the Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers’ Federation.
After the government made an announcement regarding reopening schools for Classes 9 to 12, from November 16, many teachers and activists had pointed out that there could be safety concerns since this was right after Deepavali. Schools have remained shut in the State since March and for the 2020-21 academic year, private schools have been conducting classes online. The government’s Kalvi TV has been telecasting lessons too.
