Tamil Nadu schools to reopen from tomorrow; 40% syllabus for Classes 10, 12 optional

CHENNAI: Ahead of reopening of schools for Classes X and XII from Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu State Council of Educational Research and Training (TNSCERT) has made 40% of syllabus optional for board exam students this year. The council has forwarded the details of 60% prioritized content for Classes X and XII to all schools to help teachers teach them first in class.Board exam question papers this year will be entirely based on prioritized content, officials said. But students aspiring to clear National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) must cover 100% of the syllabus, they added.
For Class XII, most of the chapters have been retained. Some difficult topics, practical experiments in chemistry and some exercises in maths have been removed. In biology, teachers said all 12 chapters have been retained and some topics that may be of importance for competitive exams have been removed. “Topic on nucleic acid, which students learn in Class XI, has been removed. Topics on replication of DNA, important for NEET, has been reduced,”’ said Gayathiri Sundararaman, a biology teacher.
In chemistry, 15th chapter called “Chemistry in everyday life” has been removed. “They have also reduced practical experiments. About 35% portion has been made optional,” a chemistry teacher said.
Likewise, in maths, 40% portions have been removed from the priority list. “They have omitted topics in integral calculus which will help students in engineering education and entrance exams. These topics can’t be learned by students on their own,” a city maths teacher said.
In physics, all important topics have been retained and some repeated concepts have been made optional. “Considering the case of an average student, they could have reduced a few more lessons in physics,” said professor Rita John, head, department of theoretical physics, Madras University, and a domain expert in physics subject.
She further said students may not have enough time to prepare for the exams. “For teaching the topics, practical experiments and revisions for the exam, schools may need at least six months,” she added.
In languages, teachers said in both Tamil and English they have made up to 40% syllabus optional.
N Vijayan, senior principal, Zion Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Tambaram, said schools can finish the prioritized content and prepare students for model exam only if they have at least five months time. He further said the reduction of syllabus will have a negative impact on children preparing for competitive exams as they would focus only on the 60% prioritized syllabus for this academic year.
In Class X, portions which students either learn in higher classes or ones they already read in lower classes have been removed. For example, in Class X maths, teachers said some topics in matrix and trigonometry have been made optional. But students will study them in Class XI. “We have done the whole exercise without affecting the learning outcome in each class from Classes I to XII. Students will learn all the concepts and basics. We have made some topics that are not important optional,” a subject-expert involved in the reduction of syllabus said.