CHENNAI: The State Assembly witnessed a lively debate on Monday over the issue of implementation of Samacheer Kalvi in Tamil Nadu, during a discussion on the demand for grants to the departments of School and Higher Education.Referring to the policy note that norms to be set up for matriculation schools would be simplified, PMK floor leader J Gurunathan (Jeyankondam), in his address, said it would not be appropriate to encourage matriculation schools while implementing Samacheer Kalvi.“As the Samacheer Kalvi is in force, it is unnecessary to have different education boards such as Matriculation and Oriental. All these should be abolished and schools must be brought under the Samacheer Kalvi Board,” he said.Stating that matric schools were tilting towards the CBSE stream after the introduction of Samacheer Kalvi, he wanted the State government to urge the Centre not to permit schools to have CBSE affiliation, barring Kendriya Vidyalayas. The infrastructure in the government-run schools should be upgraded, he added.Intervening, School Education Minister C Ve Shanmugam said the government had actually planned to implement the Samacheer Kalvi scheme by encompassing the provisions of the Right to Education Act, besides looking into the issues, including infrastructure. The plan was, however, implemented following the Supreme Court’s direction.Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said the State Government supported Samacheer Kalvi. The government only said that time was needed to implement the plan as it was in a half-baked state. The PMK, Left parties and others, however, held protests seeking its immediate enforcement. They were not worried about the infrastructure, she noted. “The apex court asked us to go ahead. We followed. There is no use now in ruing or pointing fingers,” she said.Recalling the criticism on whether it was right to waste the Rs 200-crore worth books, Jayalalithaa said the syllabus had many lacunae. The dates of birth and death of leaders like Kamaraj and Lal Bahadur Shastri have been given erroneously. “If this is the standard of the books, how will the children learn?” she asked.While Gurunathan said his party had pointed out the flip side of the scheme during the previous regime in the House, CPI member M Arumugam and the CPM’s K Balakrishnan said the Left was of the view that the omissions should be addressed while implementing the plan.At this, Jayalalithaa wondered how it was possible. “You want the books to be distributed and also want to correct it simultaneously. How is this possible in practical terms?” she asked.
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