By IANS
Chennai : An expert committee in its report tabled in the Tamil Nadu assembly Monday recommended there should be only one board of school examination in the state instead of the four organisations functioning currently.
The committee, headed by S. Muthukumaran, vice-Chancellor of the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli, said four educational boards were not necessary after the introduction of uniform syllabus for school education.
The panel was set up in September 2006 to eliminate regional disparities and recommend measures for the uniform syllabus and equal school education in the state.
Schools affiliated to the pan-Indian Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) are exempt from this essentially levelling exercise.
Tamil Nadu has 29,586 primary, 8,017 middle and 2,918 high schools, classified as government and aided schools, which are affiliated with the Tamil Nadu State School Leaving Certificate Examination Board.
In addition, 41 schools are affiliated with the Anglo-Indian School Leaving Certificate Examination Board.
Then there are 2,053 unaided high schools under the Directorate of Matriculation Schools Examination Board and a few with the Oriental School Leaving Certificate (OSLC) Examination Board.
The committee said separate panels for Tamil, English, Oriental languages, other languages, mathematics, science, social sciences, education related arts and physical education should be part of the overall board.
“All children who have completed five years in school should be able to speak and read correctly in their mother tongue,” the report said.
Importance should be given to environmental education, physical education training, life sciences and moral education, it said.
“Students should not be burdened with heavy syllabus and there should be no stress on mugging up,” the report said. There should not be any attempt to stuff the students’ minds with facts and figures, instead of inciting him/her to develop “an interest for learning and creativity”.