TN: 22,000 dropped out, experts blame it on Class XI exams
Photo for representative purpose onlyCHENNAI: The additional board exam in Class XI and a tougher new syllabus for state board students may have pushed 21,841 students out of schools in 2019-20. Schools said students with arrears were not able to cope with their studies which resulted in dropouts.
According to the data released by the state government, 7,79,931 students wrote Class XII exams in March 2020 while 8,01,772 students had appeared for the Class XI state board exam from schools in March 2019.
“Many students were not able to handle the revision of syllabus. They made an alternate choice and join polytechnic colleges or ITIs,” said G J Manohar, principal of MCC Higher Secondary School, Chetpet.
He said most students preferred commerce or arts streams after the syllabus was revised.
The state government introduced Class XI board exams for students from March 2018. The next year, the directorate of government examinations found that 13,000 students had dropped out in Class XII. But despite several efforts made by the directorate, only a few students returned to write the board exam.
“The state government introduced Class XI board exams as our students are not able to do well in national level exams like NEET and JEE. The schools used to skip Class XI syllabus and only teach the Class XII syllabus for two years,” said D Nedunchezhiyan, an educational consultant.
He said competitive exams are based on 50% of Class XI syllabus.
“The tougher syllabus, additional board exam for state board students are pushing out the students,” said P B Prince Gajendrababu, general secretary of State Platform for Common School System.
The syllabus revision was solely aimed at national level competitive exams and put more burden on other students studying the state board syllabus, he said.
According to the data released by the state government, 7,79,931 students wrote Class XII exams in March 2020 while 8,01,772 students had appeared for the Class XI state board exam from schools in March 2019.
Teachers said students with arrears in Class XI lost motivation to study further. After June 2019, there were 50,650 students with arrears in Class XI exams.
“Many students were not able to handle the revision of syllabus. They made an alternate choice and join polytechnic colleges or ITIs,” said G J Manohar, principal of MCC Higher Secondary School, Chetpet.
He said most students preferred commerce or arts streams after the syllabus was revised.
The state government introduced Class XI board exams for students from March 2018. The next year, the directorate of government examinations found that 13,000 students had dropped out in Class XII. But despite several efforts made by the directorate, only a few students returned to write the board exam.
“The state government introduced Class XI board exams as our students are not able to do well in national level exams like NEET and JEE. The schools used to skip Class XI syllabus and only teach the Class XII syllabus for two years,” said D Nedunchezhiyan, an educational consultant.
He said competitive exams are based on 50% of Class XI syllabus.
“The tougher syllabus, additional board exam for state board students are pushing out the students,” said P B Prince Gajendrababu, general secretary of State Platform for Common School System.
The syllabus revision was solely aimed at national level competitive exams and put more burden on other students studying the state board syllabus, he said.
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