Tamil Nadu govt waives final exams for Class 9, 10, 11; students to be promoted on internal assessment

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami announced on Thursday that the state government has decided to promote students of classes 9, 10 and 11 to the next class without any final examinations.While speaking at the state legislative assembly, Palaniswami said that the decision was taken in light of the COVID-19 situation.According to a report by Mint, the state came to the decision on the basis of inputs given by medical experts. They suggested that the conduct of SSLC and plus one exam in the state will not be conducive in the current scenario.Although the three standards have been given exemption from final exams, Tamil Nadu Class 12 examinations are going to be conducted this year. The report added that the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations will be responsible for the higher secondary exams like every other year.However, the pandemic has forced the authority to delay the board exams. While usually, the Class 12 exams are conducted in the months of March and April, this year the exams have been pushed to May.Candidates set to appear for the higher secondary exams in 2021 must note that the board exams will be held between 3 and 21 May, 2021.The Tamil Nadu Education Department will now assess the students of Class 9, 10 and 11 based on their internal assessment, reported The Indian Express. The government has also finalised the guidelines regarding this internal assessment. Students will be judged on the basis of two major parameters. While 80 per cent of the total marks will be evaluated on the basis of the students’ performance in their quarterly and half-yearly examinations, the rest 20 per cent weightage will be calculated on the basis of the examinees’ attendance in the last academic year.