CHENNAI: Holding common exams for classes V and VIII will only lead to depression in students, said Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Hassan.
In a video released on Wednesday on his social media handles, the actor-turned-politician condemned Tamil Nadu government's new education policy and asked it to roll it back.
''Apart from discrimination from caste and religion, exam-marks based discrimination will now increase,'' said Kamal.
''Children will develop low self-esteem and question themselves whether they deserve to live in this society itself or not,'' he added.
Pointing out that he dropped out from school when he was in 8th standard for different reasons, Kamal said: ''If any child drops out from school now, the common exams will be the only reason.''
Last week, Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan announced that the new common exam policy will roll out later this year. However, he clarified, there won't be any detention of students for three years.