MADURAI: Teachers have urged the Tamil Nadu government to revise and streamline the State Board syllabus in line with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) curriculum.
Teachers conducting free coaching classes for government and aided school students said the Class 11 and 12 syllabi were revised about six years ago to align with NEET and JEE requirements.
The heavier syllabus has discouraged many students, particularly in government schools, from choosing the Biology-Mathematics group, they said.
No major revisions have been made despite repeated demands to streamline and update the syllabus, they said.
Speaking to TNIE, a government school Chemistry teacher, S Vennila Devi, said the combined Class 11 and 12 Chemistry syllabus is too extensive, making it difficult to complete effectively. She noted that several topics in the current syllabus, including Solid State, Surface Chemistry, and S-Block Elements, are no longer part of the NCERT content and require revision.
A Physics teacher, D Selvin Thomas, working at Sethupathi Pandian Corporation Higher Secondary School, said that Chapter 10 Electronics in Class 12 Physics, particularly the transistor portion, is unnecessary as it is not included in the NCERT syllabus. He pointed out that questions from the chapter do not appear in either NEET or JEE.
He further urged the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to convene meetings with higher secondary subject experts to identify portions that could be removed or updated.
A Zoology teacher, J Pradeep Rajesh, of St Britto Higher Secondary School, said the main issue is not the syllabus but the weak conceptual foundation of students from lower classes. “Students manage anatomy topics; they struggle with advanced physiology and genetics introduced abruptly in Classes 11 and 12. Simplifying some detailed portions, particularly protein synthesis in Class 12 Biology, is also necessary,” he said.
C Murugu Illanchezhian, a Botany teacher at Government Higher Secondary School, Kallikudi, said several portions of Classes 11 and 12 Botany are too detailed and need revision.
When contacted, B Chandra Mohan, Principal Secretary to the School Education Department, told TNIE that the revised syllabi and textbooks for classes 1 to 3 have already been released. “Similar revisions will be undertaken for other classes, and the updated syllabi will be released according to the committee’s schedule,” he added.
A senior SCERT official said that meetings with stakeholders in this regard have been ongoing for the past six months.
