Activist suggests revamp of school education

Narayanan A, director of the organisation has sent a detailed representation to the government to improve the quality of education in schools. “Awareness campaign about the benefits of the NEET-based medical admission process must be organised as there is already a lot of misconceptions about the test,” he points out. 

He also suggests that Samacheer Kalvi scheme that was introduced in 2010 has not yet been revised. There is a need to look into it now. “Text books for class 11 and 12 have not been updated since 2006-07. It is almost like a stagnant pool. It should be continuously modified. The government should take steps to improve the state syllabus and bring it on a par with the CBSE syllabus.” 

To encourage education in Tamil, he says, more number of Tamil medium schools must be opened. “Scientific concepts should be explained in Tamil medium books. Tamil medium students should be taught English in a more scientific manner so as to develop command and confidence in the language,” he suggested. He recommended the idea of conducting board exams for both classes 11 and 12. He wants the teachers be trained to improve education standards. For the benefit of students, coaching / training could be provided in schools to prepare for NEET and it is also made available on the internet. 

“The education department must ensure that each school facilitates its students interested in taking up the medical profession by helping them to prepare for NEET with effective coaching from their class teachers.”

Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute, Government of Tamil Nadu and Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CSIE) - IIT-Madras are organising a three-day summer camp for school students from May 17-19. Open for students from class 9 to 12, the camp aims to introduce youngsters to social entrepreneurship. 

“We have been organising summer and winter camps for school students for the past four years. Titled ‘Social Innovation through Technology’, the idea is to introduce students to entrepreneurship with a cause when they are in their teens which will help them take right choices when they make career decisions,” says James Rajanayagam, Senior Project Advisor, CSIE, IIT Madras, research center in the area of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIT Madras.

Around 100 students enrol every year where they are introduced to social topics like renewable energy, climate change, water scarcity, livelihood issues etc. “There are sessions on creativity, product development and the basics of entrepreneurship. There are also experts from IIT who talk to the students,” said James. 

Interested students can register through the website www.csie.iitm.ac.in. The registration fees of Rs 900 can be directly paid on the first day of the programme.