Facing flak, TN govt defers class X public exam

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday revised its earlier schedule for Class X board exams, deferring it to June 15 after drawing flak from educationists and parents over its decision to hold it from the first week of next month. Parents and activists had questioned the government move citing the steady spike in COVID-19 cases in the state.

The tenth standard board exams will be held from June 15 to 25 for over 9.5 lakh candidates, as per the revised schedule announced by School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan. He said the exams have been postponed due to increase in COVID-19 cases in the state. Earlier, the exams were scheduled from June 1-12.

The postponed Class XI exam would be held on June 16 while the re-exam for absentees of Class XII final exam will be conducted on June 18. The exams would be conducted in over 12,000 higher secondary and secondary schools. However, educationists seem to be unconvinced.

Questioning the necessity to hold the board exam for the young minds, especially when the coronavirus cases have been increasing rapidly, especially in Chennai, educationist Prince Gajendra Babu said the announcement will make about ten lakh students come out of their homes after two months of lockdown.

"Who will take the responsibility for the students' health? Did the health department or medical experts advise (the government) that the students will not contract the virus," he asked.

Also, the fate of the students in the containment zones is also uncertain. Another educationist wondering if it was necessary to hold board exams at all, suggested that the school education authorities could consider declaring the students as pass based on their performance in the quarterly and half-yearly exams. Re-exams could be conducted later in the academic year, he said. Earlier, state higher education minister K P Anbalagan had said colleges would be reopened only after the state becomes free from all active COVID-19 cases. Tamil Nadu had as many as 12,448 cases of coronavirus as on Tuesday.