The Telangana State school curriculum, starting this academic year, will not only aim at academic performance but will also help students develop their personality.
The Department of School Education is developing standardised modules that focus on grooming students to face everyday life situations — such as personal and social hygiene, anxiety, etiquette, public speaking, stage fright, and gender and social inequalities — and introduce them to do socially useful productive work, Principal Secretary of the department Burra Venkatesham said.
“Until Class 12, I had a fear of public speaking. It is common among students coming from government schools, rural areas, disadvantaged sections and those lacking exposure to learning,” said Mr. Venkatesham.
Personality development modules have been part of some schools run by voluntary school organisations. Such modules, however, will now be streamlined and made compulsory in all schools across the State, he said.
Mr. Venkatesham said the modules, divided into ‘in-the-class’ and ‘after-class sessions’, will take up to five extra hours a week, with after-class sessions entailing sports and cultural activities. The modules will be ready by May 15 for incorporation into the curriculum, he said.
The aim is to make students, their parents and teachers understand that results do not only mean acquiring marks but also developing an overall and effective personality, Mr. Venkatesham added.
