The school education department has announced that April 28 will be the last working day for government and aided schools across the state, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.

As per the instructions given by the department, schools should conduct examinations for Classes I to III from April 17 to April 21 and for Classes IV to IX from April 10 to 28. However, teachers said many of them are struggling to complete the syllabus due to several extracurricular activities that were organised by the department.

"At least once a week we had to travel with the children for competitions which were conducted at the block, state and district levels, especially since December. We have to also choose and train children at the school level before the competitions. Several competitions, including arts and culture, were held this year," said the headmaster of a middle school from Dindigul in a conversation with The New Indian Express. Due to this, teachers were unable to finish the syllabus in many subjects, including English, he added.

The School Management Committee (SMC) has also decided to take up the issue of the increasing number of dropouts every year which also has been deplorable in such times. The department has asked the school management committees to meet on April 10 across the state to ensure that the issue of dropouts and learning of students are discussed with parents.

The head of the committees and teachers who are part of the panel have been asked to invite parents to discuss the attendance of children and also how students are performing academically and in extracurricular activities so as to ensure an all-round development within the students and to facilitate participation amongst the children in order to encourage them to further continue with higher education.