Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will decide on conducting State board examinations before the State Assembly election in 2021, School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan said on Friday.
To a question, the Minister told presspersons at Gobichettipalayam that he would discuss the issue with the Chief Minister, after which a right decision would be taken on whether to conduct or cancel the board examinations.
The Minister clarified that private schools were allowed to conduct half-yearly exams online only if they were willing and added that the conduct of exams was not mandatory. “We had cancelled the half-yearly exams for government schools and private schools can conduct, only if they are willing,” he said.
When reporters pointed out that students were declared promoted based on their quarterly and half-yearly exam marks in the last academic year but both exams had been cancelled this year, the Minister said that the situation was different. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a complete lockdown and people could not come out earlier. But now the situation is different,” he added.
