CHENNAI: In an attempt to prioritise sports in government schools, the School Education department will introduce daily physical education classes, develop 50 schools as Sports Plus schools and fill more than 2,771 physical education teacher posts, Minister A Rajmohan announced in the Assembly on Monday. Under the Odi Vilaiyadu scheme, students will have physical education periods every day instead of once a week.
The department will also provide quick-dry T-shirts and track pants for sports activities at Rs 81.89 crore. Of the 2,771 physical education teacher posts to be filled through the Teachers Recruitment Board, 1,328 are newly created posts, Rajmohan said.
The minister also announced that 50 government high and higher secondary schools would be developed as Sports Plus schools at a Rs 2.34 crore. Rajmohan said that a monthly ‘No Bag Day’ in government schools will be introduced under Magizhvudan Munneru, during which students will focus on arts and fine arts activities.
A high-level committee will also be formed to examine the long-pending demands of teacher associations, Rajmohan said. To strengthen mental health support for students, the department will establish a three-tier counselling and emotional well-being system in all government high and higher secondary schools under THUNAI (Timely Help, Understanding, Nurturing, Assistance & Intervention). The Rs 27.43 crore initiative will have 943 trained counsellors and five tele-counsellors.
The department will introduce TN-PAL (Tamil Nadu Personalised Adaptive Learning) in 500 government middle schools for Classes 6 to 8.
A competency-based assessment programme, Mathichudar, will be implemented for Classes 6 to 12 at a cost of Rs 18.01 crore, focusing on conceptual understanding, critical thinking and problem-solving.The department will also introduce TN-ARIVU (Analytical Thinking, Reasoning, Innovation, Venture & Entrepreneurship, Upskilling with Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies), a new curriculum from 2027-28, in three stages: Arivu-Foundation for Classes 1-5, Arivu-Discovery for Classes 6-8 and Arivu-Edge for Classes 9-12. The department is already revamping the school curriculum.
Under THIRAN PLUS, 10.5 lakh students in Classes 2-9 will receive targeted remedial support based on assessments to identify learning gaps for Rs 12.05 crore. The scheme is now being implemented for classes 6-8.TN SPARK, an integrated AI and digital technologies curriculum, will be expanded in three stages for Classes 6-12 to develop digital, innovation and problem-solving skills at Rs 2.72 crore.
SAFETY AUDIT
Chennai: Minister Aadhav Arjuna on Monday said the PWD would assess the condition of buildings in over 6,500 educational institutions maintained by it. Buildings marked red would be considered structurally unsafe and sealed, those marked yellow would require maintenance, while green would indicate buildings that did not require immediate work. Arjuna said funds would be allocated for maintenance based on the assessment and urged MLAs to verify the data collected by officials.
SCHEMES GALORE
TN IGNITE will be implemented in 3,205 govt higher secondary schools to promote entrepreneurship at cost of Rs 4.82 crore
Vetri Paathai will be implemented in 172 govt higher secondary schools to help prepare students seeking admission to premier higher education institutions at Rs 22.36 crore
Chess and traditional games will be introduced in 6,980 govt middle schools at Rs 20.17 lakh