Class 8 kids caught in Maths, Science bind

A first-of-its-kind State-Level Achievement Survey that tested 9,80,341 students in Classes 3, 5 and 8 has found that the average mark scored by Class 8 students in Mathematics and Science barely crossed 40.

- SUBASHINI VIJAYAKUMAR @ Chennai

The survey, jointly conducted by the State Planning Commission, Samagra Shiksha, SCERT, and the Directorates of School Education and Elementary Education, covered 66% of students enrolled in Classes 3, 5 and 8 in all 45,924 government and government-aided schools across the state.

The primary school students of Tamil Nadu, however, have shown improvement in Tamil language skills, the survey showed.

Compared to the National Achievement Survey (NAS) of 2011, the average scores of students in all subjects in these classes have gone up except in Mathematics in Class 3 where the score declined from 57% to 54%.

As per the report's district-wise performance data, Kanniyakumari, Cuddalore, Madurai, Tenkasi and Sivagangai were the topperforming districts. Nilgiris, Erode, Chengalpattu, Chennai and Coimbatore performed poorly. Many of the poorly-performing districts are located in North and West Tamil Nadu (except Tiruvarur in the East and Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli in South Tamil Nadu).