VELLORE: Since Vellore district has been remaining, for long, in the bottom half of the pyramid, the School Education department has been initiating a slew of measures to improve performance in public examinations.
Although the district bettered its performance last year, moving up the ladder to 27th place from 31 in the chart of performance of districts in Plus Two, it has miles to go before achieving what it aims for.
With an action plan on hand, the authorities of the School Education department are working overtime to improve the success rate, though the task is cut out for them.
Conducting slip tests every day, providing minimum material to those scoring below the pass mark and motivational sessions are part of the action plan.
“Daily slip tests on important questions, special classes both in the morning and evening for slow learners and special revision tests key in subjects are being held for improving the results in public examinations,” S Mars, Chief Education Officer (CEO), told Express.
While minimum material, a collection of important questions and answers, is being provided to students in maths, accountancy and commerce, special revision tests are being conducted on physics, chemistry, maths, biology and computer science as part of the measures to spur the students do well, he added.
Special motivational sessions were recently held to keep the students focus on studies, making them realise the importance of doing well in Class X and Plus Two examinations for their future.
Around 40,000 students are going to appear for Plus Two examinations this year while the figures for Class X are around 50,000.
A close vigil is also kept on the behaviour and attendance of poor performers on daily basis.
“We have put in place an alert system so that the parents of those students who fail to turn up for the school will be intimated on the absence. This will keep the students step into the school without fail,” Mars said.
Coaching based on performance in quarterly and half-yearly examinations is also planned by the teachers in key subjects.
For encouraging the teachers to show better results, the department is giving appreciation certificates for individual teachers and schools as well.
To prepare the students well ahead of the public examinations, now thrust is given to students of Class 6, 7 and 8. Their performance is reviewed by the district collector periodically.
Several factors are cited to contribute to the poor performance of Vellore in public examinations.
Socio-economic background, personal behaviour, lack of infrastructure and higher number of government schools tend to influence the overall results.
“Most of the students in government schools are from poor background with low fundamental knowledge. Those who cannot get admissions in private schools swarm to government schools. Higher number of students in government schools and vacancies of teachers are also key factors that influence the performance in public examinations,” observed SN Janardhanan, state general secretary of Tamil Nadu Higher Secondary Schools Vocational Teachers Association.
He pointed out that government schools strictly adhere to the syllabus prescribed for respective classes, 10th syllabus is not taught in 9th standard and 12th syllabus not taught for 11th standard unlike private schools, most of which teach the same syllabus for two years in order to put up good performance.
What can be done to improve the performance in a lasting manner? “It should begin from the bottom. All the subjects, particularly English should be taught from Class I in government schools. Availability of teachers for all the subjects and classes must be ensured. The results must be dissected every year in a concrete manner so that the holes can be plugged,” suggested PB Prince Gajendrababu, a well known educationist.
Talking to Express, he said, “After identifying the weak children, a mechanism should be put in place to help them overcome the learning difficulties.”
The socio-economic background of the students must be taken into account before chalking out a plan to improve their performance, he stressed.
He emphasised that teachers should be sparred from being drafted for other duties so that they can dedicate entire time available for them to prepare the children.