Chennai
After the recent decision to conduct board examinations for Classes V and VIII, the State government is now mulling over the introduction of practical examination in Science for Class VIII, similar to the one being held for Class X students, sources said.
While the Tamil Nadu government, in line with the Centre’s education policy, had recently announced board examination for Class V and Class VIII students from the coming academic session, a senior official from the School Education department told DT Next that in order to develop science skills at a young age, experts had suggested to conduct Science practical examination along with the boards for Class VIII students. At present, Science students from Class X are awarded 25 marks in practical test.
“Science is totally different from any other subject, and in order to understand its concepts, students should look beyond the books and conventional classroom teaching even at the middle school level,” the official said.
Stating that it was also believed that laboratory teaching and experiments in labs help encourage deep understanding in children, the official said authorities from the School Education department are therefore in the process of introducing lab activities for Class VIII students so that they get a first-hand learning experience by performing various experiments throughout the year on their own.
According to the official, a committee comprising experts, teachers and academicians will be formed to come out with simple lab experiments that are relevant to the students. The official also pointed out that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has also designed Science laboratory manuals for students of Classes VI to VIII.
“We will also take into consideration NCERT manuals before coming out with lab syllabus for the children here [in Tamil Nadu],” the official said, adding that efforts will be made to keep the activities very simple and easy to perform with minimum cost involvement.
The official said the Science experiments and activities are of different types involving observation, exploration, experimentation and investigation. “Some of the activities would be in the form of riddles, games and puzzles,” the official said. Teachers will also be well trained to take practical classes in labs, the official added.
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