English, Tamil practicals soon
For the first time in the history of higher education, all undergraduate and postgraduate students in universities and colleges in the state will have to take up practical examination in English and Tamil from this academic year.
In an informal chat with Deccan Chronicle, state higher education minister P. Palaniappan lamented that most students who pursue higher education from the rural areas find it difficult to interact in English. “I have seen several students not being able to speak or write in English without grammatical errors. In the past, our students were experts in English, but, now, most of the students find it tough to use English for interaction,” he said.
Pointing out that Tamil Nadu churns out lakhs of highly-skilled technical manpower every year, Mr Palaniappan said he had discussed the matter with vice-chancellors of all state universities during the recent VCs meet in the city.
“As we also need to enhance students’ skills in Tamil, we have decided to conduct practical exams for both English and Tamil. Students will be awarded a maximum of 75 marks for theory and 25 marks for practical. A student’s practical marks will depend on his oration skill, involvement in group discussion and writing an essay without any spelling mistake or grammatical error,” he informed.
The minister is hopeful that with this initiative, a student from the rural areas would enhance his/her language skills to become industry-ready.
Madras university vice-chancellor, Prof G. Thiruvasagam, said the university has constituted a committee to revamp the syllabus to include practical exam in soft skills. “We will table the agenda in the ensuing university academic council meeting scheduled for September and implement the scheme this academic year itself,” he added.
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