CHENNAI: Following the cancellation of Class 12 State board exams in the State, a section of parents are now requesting the Tamil Nadu government to allow the students, who are willing, to take the exams later. Last year, when the Class 10 board exams were cancelled, CBSE had provided an option for willing students to take the exam when the pandemic situation settles. Similar provision has been made for Class 12 CBSE students this year.
In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister MK Stalin had announced that a high-level committee headed by school education secretary will be constituted to formulate a method, based on which, marks will be awarded to Class 12 State-board students. A section of parents say, the students who are not happy with the scores awarded under the new method should be given an option to take the board exams later.
“While we hail the decision to cancel the examinations, optional test will ensure equality. Due to the pandemic situation, students did not concentrate on any of their online tests. Their academic performance has been comparatively low. An optional test would ensure that whatever the mode of scoring be, the marks reflect a student’s capability,” said K Jayavani, parent of a Class 12 student. Another parent, V Sasikala, said the government can also explore the option of conducting online tests or exams after inoculating the willing students.
The committee will be headed by the secretary of school education department and will include the secretary of higher education, vice chancellor of University of Madras, and school headmasters. They will discuss and submit a report suggesting methods to score the students.