Pressure grips schools to finish Classes 5, 8 board portions

As per the rule, all the private schools, which are recognised by the State government, should follow the syllabus set by the Tamil Nadu State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). However, about 60 per cent of the private schools across the State do not follow the textbooks released by the SCERT and instead frame their own curriculum for students between Class 1 and 8 as they do not face common board exams.

Following the sudden announcement by Directorate of School Education to conduct board exams for Classes 5 and 8 this year, all the self-financing schools are forced to follow government textbooks and the question papers would be purely based on the government textbooks.

“Many private schools do not receive government textbooks in time. In addition, the feeling that SCERT syllabus was not on par with the CBSE is also a reason for schools having their own curriculum. The board exams announcement for Class 5 and Class 8 should have come at the beginning of the academic year,” said K Kumerasan, senior member, TN self-financing Teachers Welfare Association. He said, now teachers were under severe pressure to complete the full portions in the government textbooks within four months. 

The State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) general secretary P B Prince Gajendra Babu said that the students of Classes 5 and 8 are already under severe stress after the announcement board exams and now, completing the heavy syllabus within short term would further increase their anxiety. 

A senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next that many private schools in the State follow Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) based syllabus. “Though many schools were penalised during last academic year for not following government textbooks, still several institutions do not follow the rules,” he added.