CHENNAI: After spending more than four months analysing the gap between Tamil Nadu state board and other boards and the new topics to be introduced in the revised syllabus, the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is ready with the draft new syllabus for classes 1 to 12 and the document is expected to be released soon. According to the sources, the new syllabus will have more than 90 per cent of old topics which are fundamental ideas and the textbooks. The evaluation pattern will undergo a major change with an emphasis for applications based teaching and questions.
The new topics to be included in the syllabus are gender issues, inclusive education, environment and some latest developments like robotic science, nano-science. “We have analysed nearly 20 boards within and outside the country for preparing the gap analysis report. We found in the analysis that there was no major change in the syllabus between our board and other boards including CBSE. Some topics were re-organised and some have more depth. The main difference lay in the evaluation pattern and textbooks. Their textbooks having open-ended, application based questions. Our textbooks had only knowledge based questions,” sources involved in syllabus revision said.
The new syllabus will be in an inverted pyramid structure where the content will be slowly increased to the higher classes. According to the age and sequence, the concepts will be re-aligned for higher secondary classes 11 and 12. “We have analysed all aspects and created a progressive syllabus. There will be major changes in evaluation pattern, teaching methodology and textbooks,” said G. Arivoli, director, SCERT. “The students will be asked to come up with solutions for the everyday problems faced by them using the concepts they studied in their classrooms. This will improve their problem-solving ability and make them understand the concepts better,” he said.
Understanding the concepts and applying them in real time is expected to improve the students’ performance in competitive exams. After reviewing the present syllabus, subject experts also suggested avoiding repetitions in inter disciplinary subjects like physics and chemistry. Such topics also will be avoided in the draft new syllabus. The officials are planning to give the knowledge extension opportunity for students in the textbooks. Some concepts which are important but could not be added in the textbooks will be given as blurbs and they will also be presented with external resources like web portals.
It will also have information, including on innovations and discoveries, arts and social issues and the ethics. Meanwhile, The Tamil Nadu Curriculum Frame Work Committee headed by Anna University former Vice-Chancellor M. Anandakrishnan will hold its meeting on Saturday to review the work and also about releasing the framework. The curriculum will give the broad outline about the educational goals, policies, and suggestions to solve some of the issues faced by schools, teachers, and students. It is expected that the curriculum framework and draft syllabus may be released together in coming weeks.
