CHENNAI: The school education department has announced that April 28 will be the last working day for government and aided schools across the state. As per the instruction of the department, schools should conduct examinations for classes 1 to 3 from April 17 to April 21 and from classes 4 to 9 from April 10 to 28. However, teachers said many of them are struggling to complete the syllabus due to several extracurricular activities that were organised by the department.
“At least once a week we had to travel with the children for competitions which were conducted at the block, state and district levels, especially since December. We have to also choose and train children at the school level before the competitions. Several competitions, including arts and culture, were held this year,” said the headmaster of a middle school from Dindigul. Because of this, teachers were not able to finish the syllabus in many subjects, including English, he added.
The department has also asked school management committees to meet on April 10 across the state to ensure that the issue of dropouts and learning of students are discussed with parents. The head of the committees and teachers who are part of the panel have been asked to invite parents to discuss the attendance of children and also how students are performing academically and in extracurricular activities. The committee members have also been asked to coordinate with local body members to identify any out-of-school children and ensure that they are enrolled in the schools.