Tamil Nadu Class X, XI Exam 2020 Cancelled Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Students to be Promoted Based on Half-Yearly And Quarterly Marks And Attendance

Chennai, June 9: Chief Minsiter Edappadi K Palanisami-led government in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday cancelled Class X examinations and said that all the students will be promoted due to the coronavirus pandemic. Apart from this, the state government also cancelled the pending examinations for Class XI. However, the state government informed that the decision on the Class XII examinations for absentees will be done later.

Issuing a statement, CM Palanisami said that the state education board would allot the marks for Class X students on the basis of quarterly and half yearly exam performance. He said, as quoted by TOI, "Students would get 80% weightage for half yearly and quarterly exam marks and 20% weightage for attendance." He also added that decision was taken after a high-level meeting. Telangana SSC 2020 Exam Cancelled: Class 10 Students Promoted to Next Class Without Examination.

Earlier on Monday, the Madras High Court said it cannot put lives of more than nine lakh students at stake and asked the government to consider postponement of the exams in view of soaring COVID-19 cases across the state. The division bench of justices Vineet Kothari and R Suresh Kumar made it clear it was prima facie convinced that the state has to be restrained from going ahead with the schedule.

However, the bench restrained itself from passing any interim order and adjourned the hearing to June 11 directing the state to inform its stand. It is to be known that the bench wondered whether the government can give an undertaking that no student will get COVID-19 infection if it was allowed to conduct the exams from June 15.

Answering to the question, Advocate General Vijay Narayan submitted that experts have opined that COVID-19 cases might increase up to two lakh and even go up further in the coming days and this is the right time to conduct the exams. But the bench said that they have found no logic in conducting the exams risking the lives of 9 lakh students. Previously, Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers Association challenged the state’s decision to conduct the exams from June 15 in the Madras High Court.

(With Inputs from Agencies)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 09, 2020 01:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).