CHENNAI/COIMBATORE : Over 8 lakh students appeared for Class 12 state board examination held at 3,316 centres across the state. According to the students and teachers, the Tamil question paper was relatively easy, though a few one-mark questions were difficult.
As per data from the school education department, of the 8,02,568 students appearing for the exam in 7,518 higher secondary schools, 11,430 were absent. Additionally, 18,344 private candidates and 145 jail inmates were also part of the total number of students writing the examination.
“Some students would have found 4-5 one-mark questions to be difficult. However, most of the students will not struggle to pass the paper,” said S Prabakaran, a Tamil teacher. He also urged the department to increase the one-mark questions in Tamil paper from 14 to 20, similar to other subjects.
Another Tamil teacher noted that the paper included questions requiring students to think on their own and answer questions like writing about precautionary measures to be taken during the rainy season.
Meanwhile, M Anand, the first-visually impaired student from state board syllabus to write the examinations on computer, said he found the examination easy. He wrote the examination at the Arignar Anna Government Higher Secondary School in Poonamallee where he was provided with a computer with the NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) software to write the examination.
A scribe read him the questions and he typed the answer on the computer using the software. Finally, the answers were printed and sent for evaluation. Anand said he expects to score more than 85 marks in Tamil.
A student, D Santhosh, who wrote the exam at Devanga Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore said most of the questions were among the ones given at the end of the lessons.
Coimbatore collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar visited the exam centre at Corporation Higher Secondary School at Siddhapudur and inspected the exam. He said the district administration has deployed 290 scribes in the district to help students with disabilities.
The next examination, English, is scheduled for March 6 while the final exam will be held on March 25.