From 26th December onwards, the school students in Tamil Nadu would be having holidays.
The school education dept has announced that classes must be conducted on the holidays for the students studying in the classes 10,11 and 12. Now, many government school teachers have opposed this.
From 15th December, half yearly examinations started for the students of classes 6 to12 and from 19th December for other students in the state. The exams would be completed on 23rd December for all the classes. It was claimed that the respective DEOs had directed all the schools of students of classes 10,11 and 12 to organise special classes. The government school teachers were unhappy due to this instruction.
It was explained by a Chennai based govt school teacher that the half yearly holidays would be just for one week. She added that the high and higher secondary school students would need a break considering their mental health and extreme exam stress etc. She shed light on how the teachers were overburdened due to extra work and how they were stressed.
According to another teacher from corporation school in Chennai it was clear that conducting classes for high and higher secondary students was a yearly procedure only. She added that some schools force the students to be present in the schools till 7pm in the evening. Truth is that this would create aversion towards learning.
According to one chief educational officer, the schools could organise special classes for students of classes 10,11 ans 12 for full day or half day for all or selected students only after getting consent from their parents. The principal of the schools only has the right to decide if the schools need to conduct special classes etc. It must be noted that a circular from Chengalpet DEO urging the teachers to conduct classes has been criticised now.