All students studying in classes 9, 10 and 11 in Tamil Nadu will not have to take examinations, announced Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami on Thursday, declaring them as ‘all pass’ this academic year. The announcement made in the Tamil Nadu Assembly comes days after the government announced class 12 board exams between 3 May and 21 May.
“All students in classes 9, 10 and 11 in the academic year 2020-21 are declared to have passed the full year exams and no general exams, considering the request of the parents and the opinion of the academics. The score assessment protocols for students will be published in detail by the government,” said the Chief Minister.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier said that they will discuss the need for class 10 and 11 board exams and then make an announcement. Online examinations for these classes, too, were being considered by the Education Department. Classes for students of 10 and 12 were reopened in January 2021, nearly 10 months after schools were closed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. All students were reportedly given vitamin and zinc tablets to boost immunity.
Speaking in the Assembly, EPS said there has been curfew orders in Tamil Nadu under the National Disaster Management Act since 25 March 2020, as per the guidelines of the central government for the prevention of the coronavirus infection. Throughout this academic year, students were educated only through educational television. Curricula have been reduced in view of the difficulties that students face in getting an education through television and the internet.
The Tamil Nadu CM also announced that the government has increased the retirement age of government employees from 59 to 60.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations has released the timetable for class 12 state board examinations, which are set to be conducted between 3 May and 21 May. The state board exams are usually held in March, but are postponed to April this year due to the pandemic.
Last academic year, too, the state governments of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry had announced that students in classes 1 to 9 would be promoted to the next grade without final examinations this year. Class 10 exams were also cancelled last academic year. The decision was in wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and the pandemic-induced lockdown.
Assembly elections are likely to be held in Tamil Nadu in April-May and these major announcements come just days before the exact date of the polls are announced.
(The story was originally published in The News Minute and has been reposted with permission.)
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