CHENNAI: The latest assessment conducted under the Targeted Help for Improving Remediation and Academic Nurturing (THIRAN) initiative in September has revealed that 40% of the 7.46 lakh government school students from Class 6 to 9 identified with learning gaps achieved expected basic learning outcomes (BLO).

In this assessment, which was done after interventions provided to these students since July under THIRAN initiative, 2.98 lakh (40%) of the 7.46 lakh students met the benchmarks.

Teachers the TNIE spoke to said though this as an improvement, it is of concern that 4.5 lakh students are yet to attain expected BLO, for which the threshold is minimal.

Kanniyakumari (70%), Tiruchy (63%), The Nilgiris (54%) and Perambalur (54%) recorded more than half the students achieving the expected outcomes.

Vellore (28%), Virudhunagar (31%), Tiruvarur (32%), Tenkasi (33%), Tiruvannamalai (33%), Thanjavur (33%) and Salem (33%) fared poorly.

The school education department said the remaining students will be covered in the next phase of the initiative from October to February 2026 to help them also reach the expected BLO.

“The department has to implement the initiative more intensively to improve the learning outcomes,” said a higher secondary school headmaster.

He, however, added that the physical copies of the learning materials for Class 9 are yet to be provided.

According to teachers, the quarterly examinations were conducted separately for students under the THIRAN initiative and regular students.

The exams carried marks ranging from 60 to 100, depending on the subject and class.

Students who scored above 70% are expected to return to regular classes while remaining will continue to be given targeted support, teachers said.

Launched in July, THIRAN initially targeted students from Classes 6 to 8 who lagged in Tamil, English, and Mathematics, before later expanding to Class 9.

The initiative followed the State Level Achievement Survey (SLAS) 2025 which revealed significant learning gaps.

The average scores for Class 8 students stood at 52% in Tamil, 39% in English, 38% in Mathematics, 37% in Science and 54% in Social Science, with Mathematics and Science emerging as the weakest subjects.

Subsequently, a baseline study was done to identify these 7.46 lakh students from Classes 6 to 9 who required interventions. The baseline assessment had 20 questions from each subject.

Students who scored 17 or less in each subject were selected to receive this additional support. The 7.43 lakh students account for about 44% of the roughly 16 to 17 lakh students studying in government schools in these classes.

However, it is noteworthy that a circular issued by the department directed the selection of at least 40% of students in each classes for remedial support under THIRAN.

It should include students who struggle to read and write two- to three-letter words, read a sentence, reciting multiplication table and solving two-digit mathematical problems, the circular had said.

The State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) provided learning materials to help improve their foundational skills.

The story is reported by Subashini Vijayakumar for The New Indian Express