New textbooks roll out next week, exclusive portal for teachers soon

Arivoli said the new syllabus would bring a big change in the education system of Tamil Nadu. According to him, the state government has spent more than Rs 40 crore to prepare the new syllabus and print the textbooks. “More than 60 per cent of the printing is over and the rest will be finished soon,” he added. 

The SCERT director said the revised textbooks would help students crack competitive examinations like NEET, and also in overall improvement. He added that every lesson of the new book would carry a QR code, which could be scanned to access videos related to the topic. 

Stating that the draft syllabus that was put on the website has already attracted more than two lakh visitors thus far, Arivoli said: “Of the seven lakh suggestions from various quarters, 1,500 ideas were very useful.” He pointed out that all the stakeholders supported the government to come out with this new syllabus. “For the first time, there was no unwanted interference from anyone while making the new curriculum.” 

“Copies of the new textbooks will be available on the internet for anyone to access anytime,” the official said. He also assured that the agency would review the textbooks every year to delete all old information and incorporate new data. 

Arivoli said that the government would start an exclusive portal for teachers where they can upload video lessons. 

The syllabi for classes 1, 6, 9 and 11 are being changed for the academic year 2018-19. Similarly, the syllabi for classes 2, 7, 10 and 12 will be changed in 2019-20, that of classes 3, 4, 5 and 8 will be changed in 2020-2021. The revision also included Information and Computer Technology in the syllabus of all classes from 1 to 10.