The panel comprising senior officials from School Education Department and academicians was about to release the reduced curriculum for Classes 1 to12 soon after the government announced that schools would reopen on November 16. But after the order was withdrawn, it was put on hold. A senior official told DT Next that the government was planning to reopen schools either after the restoration of normalcy or mass availability of vaccines.

“Therefore, with no clarity on the restoration of normalcy or vaccine availability, the academic schedule cannot be decided. If school reopening is extended to January, the panel will further reduce the syllabus,” he said.

“The committee members feel that further reduction in curriculum do not serve the purpose,” he added. Due to the uncertainty and also because the next Assembly election is likely to be held in May, the Directorate of Examinations is also in a difficult position to prepare the schedule for board exams. Urging the State government to release the reduced syllabus, Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Association president PK Ilamaran said that the authorities should immediately publish the new syllabus so that the teachers would be able to prepare.

PB Prince Gajendra Babu, secretary, State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN), pointed out that when the expert panel was constituted four months ago, it was asked to submit the report on truncating syllabus within 10 days. Later, it was extended by a few more weeks. “Since then, there is no transparency or clarity on whether or not the panel has submitted its report,” he said.