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Tamil Nadu cancels Class 12 state board exams in view of Covid situation
The decision was taken after three days of talks were held with stakeholders, including teachers, educationists and experts etc, according to a press release issued by the state government.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin announced on Saturday that the state board examinations for students of class 12 have been cancelled due to the prevailing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) situation. The decision was taken after three days of talks were held with stakeholders, including teachers, educationists and experts etc, according to a press release issued by the state government.
“After detailed discussions regarding the class 12 exams, and considering the welfare of the students, it has been decided to cancel the exams. A committee is being set up to provide recommendations for giving marks and admission to higher education (schools/colleges) will be based on these marks,” Stalin’s tweet roughly translated from Tamil, read.
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The committee will be headed by the school education department principal secretary and will include higher education department secretary, vice chancellor of Madras University, school principals, the release stated.
During the talks, all stakeholders accepted that the health and well-being of students is important over everything. Experts pointed out that students appearing for exams who are less than 18 years of age cannot be vaccinated due to which the risk of spreading Covid-19 increases.
Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday decided to promote students of classes 1 to 8 in government, government-aided and private state board schools without conducting examinations whereas students of classes 9 to 12 were already declared ‘all pass’ due to the Covid-19 crisis.
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The state has so far registered nearly 2.2 million cases and 26,128 deaths due to the viral disease. More than 1.9 million people have recovered so far while the active cases have come down to 268,968. The ongoing lockdown in the state has been extended by another week till June 14, with some relaxations to arrest the spread of Covid-19.
Chief minister Stalin said on Saturday that even though Covid-19 is coming under control in Tamil Nadu, cases are continuing to spike in 11 districts of the state including Nilgiris and Coimbatore.
