COIMBATORE: Teachers expressed disappointment over the school education department’s decision to conduct model examination for Class 6 to 9 without prior announcement. K Jayanthi, a secondary school teacher from Coimbatore district told TNIE, “On April 4, educational officers verbally said model exam should be conducted for the students of Class 6 to 10 at schools from April 6 to 17. But they did not give a reason for holding the model examination. This is unnecessary as the third term examination is set to take place later this month.”
She said that as per the department’s direction, this model exam is being conducted in few districts, including Chennai, Coimbatore and Erode on a pilot basis and officers are sending the common question papers to the schools’ mail before the examination.
A graduate teacher, T Anbarasn in a government school, on the outskirts of the city told TNIE, “We are struggling to complete portions as students were busy with Kalai Thiruvizha, quiz competitions, movie screenings, among others. With the officers conducting model exams now, the teaching is badly affected and students are forced to appear for the model exams without preparation.”
Federation of Education Development - Tamil Nadu Coordinator Su Moorthy said, “I suspect that the department plans to conduct the examination in a uniform manner for Class 6 to 10 from next year and as part of it, model examinations are being conducted. This move is against the Right to Education Act as common examination shouldn’t be conducted for students from Class 1 to 8.”An officer from the directorate of elementary education said it is just an assessment test to know the skills.