Chennai,  The Tamil Nadu Teachers Association has requested the state government to consider a semester pattern, similar to the one adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE), for the state board examinations also. The association in a statement on Tuesday called upon the state government to consider such a pattern to allay the fear and uncertainty among the students of classes 10 and 12.

The CBSE has announced a reduction of syllabus and holding of board examinations twice in the academic year 2021-22 in different formats. This has been welcomed and the Tamil Nadu teachers association and school managements want such a pattern to be followed in the state as well.

A notification from the CBSE board stated that the 2021-22 academic year would be divided into two terms with 50% of the syllabus to be covered in each term. Board exams will be held at the end of each term for classes 10 and 12 while continuous evaluation will be conducted for students of classes 9 to 12.

The first term examinations, according to the CBSE board, would be 90 minute papers with Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) which will test the students on 50% of the syllabus. The board will also create a student profile for all the assessments undertaken throughout the year and retain it in digital format. This would make sure that some level of scrutiny takes place and help to monitor how schools implement these changes.

Tamil Nadu Postgraduate teachers federation leader, KPO Suresh while speaking to IANS said, "Bringing in a two-term system would greatly help our students as the syllabus for the senior students is quite high. Rationalising the syllabus would also greatly help our students."

The state board school teachers are awaiting the announcement of the syllabus for the students of classes 10 and 12 as during the academic year 2020-21, the government had reduced the syllabus by nearly 40% for senior class students.