A decision on conducting the Class 12 board exams for State Board students in Tamil Nadu will be taken by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in two days, after considering the views of various stakeholders, said School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Wednesday.
Addressing mediapersons, he said the government has sought views from health experts, parents, teachers, students and academicians on the future course of action. “The Chief Minister has said that all sides should be heard and that a decision will be taken within two days based on this. He has also said that we should also consider what other States decide with regard to conducting their state board exams,” he said.
The Minister also encouraged parents, teachers and other stakeholders to write in or send e-mails to the department sharing their views. “Our Chief Minister and the government have always maintained the same position -- that while we acknowledge that exams are important for a student’s future, their health also should be taken into consideration,” he said.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Class 12 board exams for CBSE students were cancelled following a review meeting. In May, a meeting was held by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with State governments where a majority of the States had expressed their willingness to go ahead with the board exams once the situation was conducive.
The TN Education Minister said that while the Centre had sought their opinion about the conduct of the board exams, most of the options given to them were keeping in mind only CBSE students and not State Board students. “Many States including Tamil Nadu, in the meeting, had said that when cases come down, we can consider having the exams with appropriate safety measures in place,” Mr. Anbil Mahesh said.
“We had also conveyed this to the Central government. As has been done before, we will go step-by-step and take a decision on conducting the Class 12 State Board examsas well,” he added.
