Samacheer texts not usable for current year: panel

Updated on: Wednesday, July 06, 2011

A panel set up in line with Supreme Court order on Uniform System of School Education in Tamil Nadu submitted before Madras High Court that the textbooks cannot be used for 2011-12 academic year as they require 'lot of changes to provide quality education'.

The nine-member committee headed by state Chief Secretary said the common syllabus formulated by previous DMK government for the implementation of the 'Samacheer Kalvi Thittam' or the Uniform System of School Education was not "upto the standard."

The report said the syllabus had been framed in "hurried manner" within short time and without taking into account basic requirements.

"Samacheer Text Books cannot used for the academic year 2011-12 as they require a lot of alteration, modification and changes in order to provide good quality education to all the children in Tamil Nadu," it said.

Advocate General A Navaneethakrishnan moved a motion before the First Bench, comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam, submitting that the panel report was submitted to the High Court Registrar General in compliance with the June 14 apex court direction.

The Registrar General produced it before the Bench in a sealed cover.

Counsels sought adjournment of the case till July 11 to file their objections.

However, the judges said, "Since the career of the students is at stake, we do not want to adjourn the case. The hearing will commence from July 7."

The AIADMK government is mired in a controversy over its decision to defer implementation of USSE.

The apex court had turned down the government's appeal against the Madras High Court staying its amendment to the USSE Act 2010 to defer its implementation. A vacation bench had directed that USSE should continue to be implemented for Classes I and IV during the present academic year.

The Act passed by the previous DMK government had introduced a common curriculum for school children till Class X doing away with four streams - Matriculation, Anglo-Indian, Oriental and State Board on the ground that they lacked quality.

The High Court had on June 10 stayed the amendment to the USSE Act by the new government which claimed it wanted to withhold its implementation as the syllabus and contents in subjects like Mathematics, Science and English undermined quality education.

Samacheer texts not usable for current year: panel

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