CHENNAI: It was an easy ride for students of Class X the last academic year, feel educationists. As schools are all set to reopen on Monday (June 1), education activists to whom Express spoke to opined that it was time the syllabus set by the State Board was altered and made a tad challenging. And with hundreds of students topping the board exams in Class X, they contented that the standard of setting the question paper too need to be improved.
“It was surprising to see hundreds of students who had appeared for the Class X exams getting the State first rank last academic year. This means that the content of the subjects is easy. There must be a committee formed at the earliest to discuss change in the syllabus. The revised syllabus need not be tough as the CBSE syllabus is, but needs to be made more challenging,” said R Visalakshi, president, Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association.
She added that another major challenge in front of the teachers was learning the art of disciplining the students. Expressing her view that there needed to be counselling session held for teachers ahead of every academic year, Visalakshi opined that discipline must move beyond punishment. “Teachers need to be counselled ahead of the reopening on issues like ensuring discipline among students,” she stated. On RTE, Visalakshi said that though the order had come in reimbursing 97.04 crore to private schools across TN, there hadn’t been much of a progress. “It’s the government’s duty to ensure all students below 14 years of age get to attend school,” she said.
H E Wilkins, chairman, Doveton Group of Schools, said there had been an unusual rush for enrolling in Class XI. He opined that it was not a healthy trend for students to shift from CBSE to matriculation schools.