Coimbatore, Nov. 27
It was on November 13 that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami launched the project to provide free coaching for Plus-Two students for facing competitive examinations, including NEET, in Chennai. Termed as the first-of-its-kind initiative, the project involved setting up of 412 training centres across the State, one per Panchayat Union.
Close on its heels has come the release of the new curriculum draft for the State Board by the Chief Minister on November 20.
It was in May 2017 that the School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan had announced that the State Board (Samacheer) syllabus would undergo a major revamp with steps being taken to bring it on a par with the CBSE one, which would include introducing board examinations in Standard XI and reducing the cumulative marks to 600.
Touted to “surpass the standards of other State Board syllabi”, it was also expected to enable Tamil Nadu students crack the national level competitive examinations.
Though the syllabi was revised seven years ago for Classes I to X, it had been more than 12 for the higher secondary. The revamp was expected to come into force for Classes I, VI, IX and XI in 2018-19, for Classes II, VII, X and XII in 2019-20, and Classes III, IV, V and VIII in 2020-21.
Accordingly, the release function was held. The School Education Department uploaded the draft of the new curriculum for all classes on the State Council for Education, Training and Research (SCERT) website http://tnscert.org on November 21.
Comments could be uploaded online, for which a feedback form is available, or sent to an e-mail id provided, or even through post.
Subsequently over the last few days the website has had lakhs of visitors. Thousands have downloaded the draft and given feedback too. The feedback receiving time is for 15 days.
In a report “Development of Curriculum for School Education - The Path Travelled” on the TNSCERT website, the whole process of the revamp is explained in detail. It mentions some of the salient features in the new draft as incorporating ICT with science, learning to be based on creativity and free from rote, stress-free student evaluation, emphasis on history, culture, art and literature of ancient Tamil, encourage e-learning, and developing mobile apps for teachers and learners.
Coming to the examination pattern, it says that equal weightage would be given to the first and second year of higher secondary (600+600). Ten per cent would be allotted for internal assessment for all subjects, examination time would be reduced to 2.5 hrs from 3 hours, minimum pass percentage would be 35, clubbing of practicals for both the years, etc.
All this was arrived at by two committees that were constituted in June and the draft was prepared in four months and released in November as promised by the School Education Minister.
The present draft has been developed after comparing with the textbooks prepared by the National Council for Education Training and Research, and also those of other State Boards.
New topics such as robotic science, nanoscience, environmental chemistry or green chemistry are being introduced to students at the school level.
The Curriculum Development Committee headed by Dr. M. Anandakrishnan, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, and the Committee for Revamping School Education headed by the School Education Minister himself, with its line-up of distinguished members that included former Vice-Chancellors, educationists and officials from the education departments, worked on changes based on several parameters, sat for seminars, had discussions with subject experts, and senior teachers.
The preamble to the draft mentions that the curriculum draft lays emphasis on advocating equitable education for all.
Prepared in a record time of four months, “it will help students shine in whatever field they choose to study in the future,” according to the School Education Minister. The final curriculum document, which will include all suggestions and feedback, is expected to be uploaded in January 2018.