Chennai: Opposing the board examination for the students of Class 5 and 8 in Tamil Nadu, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), an ally of the ruling AIADMK, said on Friday that it was a violation of the human rights.
S. Ramadoss, the PMK founder, said that his party will hold a statewide protest on January 28 against this.
In a statement issued here, PMK Founder S. Ramadoss said the Tamil Nadu government is steadfast on holding public exams for the students, which will be harmful for them.
“It is violation of human rights to hold public exams for fifth class students,” Ramadoss said.
“In rural areas, children go to schools because of midday meals and free uniform after helping their parents at work,” he said.
Ramadoss said if the first step for a government is to provide education for all, the second step is to increase the education standards.
He said in Tamil Nadu that 99.25 per cent of those who join first standard complete Class 5, 98.70 per cent complete class 8, and 96.50 per cent complete class 10. Ramadoss said this was possible because of the automatic passing till class 8, and today 95 per cent of the people aged less than 30 have finished Class 10 studies.
According to him, the situation would turn worse if the public exam was held for the Class 5 and 8 students.
While it is a welcome feature to improve the standard of education, the first step is to improve the infrastructure facilities and increase the teaching staff, he said.
He said 48 per cent of the primary schools in rural Tamil Nadu have just two teachers and one of them have also to do the administrative work.
Ramadoss said the dropout rate will increase if the board exams are held for the two classes.
–IANS
