CHENNAI: School education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has said that chief educational officers in all districts have been asked to identify reasons for absenteeism after each Class 12 exam and encourage students to write the exams.
“Rather than analysing absenteeism after all the exams are completed, we have started the process now. After the exams are done for the day, the school education department officials will identify students who didn’t attend the examinations to find out the reason,” he said, after meeting top education officials on Thursday.
He also made an appeal to parents to cooperate with school education department officials when they approach them to bring students back to the schools. In the Class 12 language paper exam held on Monday, 49,559 students were absent, out of 8.5 lakh students who were issued hall tickets.
The minister added that the department brought 1.9 lakh dropouts back to schools in 2021-22. “Many of them were irregular, leading to a marginal increase in absenteeism in the examinations. Many of the parents tell the officials not to disturb them as their children have no interest in going back to school. We are also planning to talk to the parents through school management committees. Not only the school education department, but district collectors will also be asked to get involved in the issue, he said.
He also added that the reasons differ from district to district. “In Hosur, the parents migrate to Bengaluru for work and the children accompany them. The number of absentees is higher in districts like Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Karur and Dindigul,” he said.
The reasons for absenteeism include the socioeconomic impact caused by Covid-19, fear among students who failed Class 11, the fact that students were declared all pass in Class 10 and lack of interest. “A school management committee meeting will be held on March 24 and April 10 to ensure there are no absentees in the Class 10 exams beginning on April 6. Special classes will also be held for students who missed the exams, so that they can pass the supplementary exams,” he added.
On why students who did not attend regularly were issued hall tickets, the minister said the norm was relaxed keeping in mind the impact caused due to Covid-19. The absenteeism was around 49,000 in 2019 before Covid-19 as well, he added. He also ruled out preponing exams for students till Class 9 and cancellation of Class 11 public exams.
Download hall ticket for Class 10 exam
Chennai: Class 10 students can download hall tickets for the board examinations from the website www.dge.tn.gov.in from Friday. The examinations are scheduled to be conducted between April 6 and 20. Students writing examinations through school as well as private candidates can download the hall ticket. Around 10 lakh students are expected to write the class 10 examinations in the state.