Learning deficiency increased in last 2 years, says Mahesh Poyyamozhi

School Education Minister Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Thursday informed the Assembly that learning deficiency among school students has increased in the last two years.

Replying to the debate on demand for School Education Department in the House, Mahesh said that the state was ranked 23rd in the Performance Guidance Index (PGI) in the country and national achievement survey put the state at 17th rank at the national level. Stating that the Chief Minister has advised them to bring it within 10 ranks, he said that the learning outcome deficiency has increased in the last two years.

Referring to the statements of a few former AIADMK ministers who claimed to have held the department for 10 years continuously, the Minister said that there were nine ministers for the school education department in the last 10 years. “You have played with the lives of students. After her (Jayalalithaa) demise, even Tamil Nadu is missing. Our Chief Minister has to rescue it,” the Minister remarked in the House, before adding that the performance guidance index suggests that only 53 per cent of elementary students in the state were capable of rightly identifying relationship with relatives.

Spoken English classes

Proposing a new scheme to increase English proficiency of government school students, the Minister informed the Assembly that students from classes 6 to 8 and 9 to 12 would be offered spoken English classes after school hours for 30 minutes.

He also told the House that they had proposed 13 methodologies to Chief Minister MK Stalin to award marks to Classes 10 and 12 students and the CM had picked one, which benefitted 8.2 lakh. Only 19 took supplementary exams, he added.