TN Class 10 students left in the lurch in Tamil Nadu

Updated on: Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Even after two months since schools in Tamil Nadu started classes for the academic year, over eight lakh Class 10 students are still left in the lurch, as the state government remains undecided on which scheme of textbooks to follow for their board exams in March next.

As the AIADMK government seems to be reluctant in following the 'Samacheer Kalvi' scheme Uniform System of School Education (USE) aimed at bringing about uniform education that its rival DMK framed during its regime, cases on this issue are now being heard in the Supreme Court.

The apex court had on July 21 refused to endorse changes made by it in Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education (Amendment) Act, 2011 to stop enforcement of the scheme.

The court also refused the plea of the Jayalalithaa government to stay a Madras High Court order quashing amendment by it to the Act aimed at scrapping DMK government-approved school course curriculum.

The bench also asked the state government to distribute over 9 crore controversial text books, printed as per the course curriculum, approved by the previous government.

It, however, allowed the government to distribute the books by August 2, instead of July 22 fixed by the high court. The bench decided to hear the matter on July 26.

Irrespective of what the highest court in the country has in store for the students, the fact remains that the issue has dragged way too long for two months for Class 10 students to have a concrete plan on how to go about their board exams.

Some teachers in government schools across the state feel that since the time is already running out, they need more time to cover the syllabus before the examination in March.

"We need at least some textbook to teach. It's been almost two months and the parents are asking us what we are teaching their children. We can't cover the syllabus before March, if we start after two months. So the public exams for Class 10
need to be postponed," says Raghavan, (name changed), who teaches Science and English for Class 10 students in state board syllabus in Villupuram district.

On the other hand, some Matriculation schools claim they have not been disturbed too much by this dilemma.

"Keeping the time being wasted in mind, we have asked our textbook provider to integrate both schemes of books-Samacheer Kalvi (Uniform Education) as well as the old system so that the students are taught in both these. We are ready for anything that Supreme Court may recommend," says S Alfred Devaprasad, President and CEO of Chennai-based Alpha Group of Institutions.

Alpha Group of Institutions follow matriculation syllabus in its two schools.

Some students' parents feel that since scoring in Class 10 is important in selecting the group (science, arts or commerce), the students have to be given more time.

"Unlike other classes, Class 10 determines which group the student will take in Class 11.In most schools, the preferred science group is given to high mark scorers. So, since we started late (two months after June 1), we need to give extra time for students to score well," says Sumathi Paramasivam, mother of a Class 10 student in Chennai.

CPIM's student wing, Students Federation of India, which is in favour of USE in all the schools in the state, is another body that has been involved in this issue ever since the controversy on USE textbooks broke out.

"Government should disburse the USE textbooks to students, since the Madras High Court has clearly given directions on how to deal with the objectionable pages in the textbooks. Going by the Court's direction, the government shall delete and make corrections and shall come out with an additional booklet. Meanwhile, the students shall study other parts of the book," argues K S Kanakaraj, SFI's State President.

Postponing the exams to the third or fourth week of April can only help students handle the pressure better, Kanakaraj told.

TN Class 10 students left in the lurch in Tamil Nadu

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