The Director of Private Schools, Tamil Nadu, has said that Tamil should be taught as an additional compulsory language to private school students. This comes as a relief to those students who have not opted for Tamil as a second language.
The students will have to take a separate examination for this subject, conducted by the Director of Government Examinations. The New Indian Express reports that the results of the examination, however, will not be reflected in the main mark list.
This makes things easier for many private school students, who were worried they would have to take up Tamil as their language paper during the Class X Board examination.
A top official of the Education Department said the separate examination will analyse the basic Tamil knowledge of the students and will not reflect in the mark list. "We have not decided what will be done if the students fail in this examination. We have also instructed the schools to conduct examinations at the school level till Class IX," he said.
One parent of a private-school student lamented, "My daughter's school suddenly started pressuring the students to learn Tamil for the board examination next year. We were worried, as it would not be fair for such students to compete with those who are learning Tamil since Class I. We welcome this move to conduct a basic level Tamil examination for them," she said.
What does the official circular state?
A Government Order (GO) issued in 2014 said that Tamil should be taught as a subject in Classes I to X in all schools in a phased manner:
1) Commencing from the academic year 2015-16 for Class I
2) Academic year 2016-17 for Class II and so on... The Class I students of the 2015-16 academic year batch are now in Class IX.
The current circular issued by the director of private schools emphasises that all private schools affiliated to various boards, other than the state boards, will have to ensure that all students from Classes I to X are being taught Tamil by the end of the academic year 2024-2025.
Students who opted for Tamil as one of the languages in Classes IX and X as part of their respective Board exam requirements can continue to do so. Those students in Classes IX and X who have not opted for Tamil as one of the languages will have to write the final written examination for Tamil Paper for Class X conducted for all private schools and a separate certificate will be issued to them.
The circular also added the district educational officers (private schools) will supervise and make sure that Tamil is being taught by qualified teachers at all these schools.