The exam pattern of class 10 has been changed by the
directorate of government examinations to be reflected this year. But are these
worth it? Some have appreciated this move but they feel that until the teaching
methodology is changed, students might not benefit. They feel that this can
only benefit if it reaches the CBSE or ICSE standards. These changes have been
introduced as the Samacheer Kalvi syllabus was criticized (due to this, 1.5
lakh students scored 100% in one subject) and now questions will come out of
textbooks making students think instead of just learning.
According to said P B Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of State Platform for Common Schools, this method will benefit if teachers make students understand the concepts as then students will be able to answer questions which are not in textbooks.
Some also believe that these changes can be a precursor to the new syllabus that might soon be announced by the state education department.
A government school head said that the new syllabus is ready for classes 11 and 12 so, it makes sense that the department wants to prepare students for new syllabus.
A government teacher (of a school in Madurai) said that teachers are trained to teach students based on the learning system and not on concepts, so in order to benefit, they need to be trained in a way where conceptual learning is the focus.
Educational consultant J P Gandhi said that CBSE system does not have choices in the question paper so, when choices are removed then only students will learn concepts and chapters. The weightage should be mentioned for each section and not for chapters.