Class 10 public exams cancelled in Tamil Nadu; all pass

Chennai, June 09: In a big relief for students, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy announced that the public exams for class 10 students stand fully cancelled. He also said that class 11 board exams will also not be conducted.

"Considering the representation of parents and the present trend of virus spread, the board examinations scheduled to be held from June 15 for class 10 and for subjects that could not be conducted for class 11 are fully cancelled and students are declared promoted," the chief minister said.

He also said that for class 10 students, 80% of marks will be awarded based on their performance in the quarterly and half-yearly exams and 20% marks will be based on their attendance.

Recently, the Madras High Court pulled up the Tamil Nadu government on plans of conducting Class 10 board exams from June 15.

"When the state government has not decided to open schools and colleges until Covid-19 situation subsides, how can 9 lakh students, 2 lakh teachers and thousands of non-teaching staff be forced to risk their lives attending class 10 board exams from June 15," the court said.

The state's COVID-19 count has now reached 33,229. Of these cases, Chennai recorded 1,149 fresh Covid-19 cases.

The death toll also rose to 286 after 17 more fatalities were reported in the state in last 24 hours. Of the new cases reported, 11 patients (9 from Qatar, 3 from Kuwait) who arrived in Tamil Nadu tested positive in the state.

There are currently 15,413 active cases. A total of 17,527 patients have been discharged or cured of the highly contagious disease.

Of these, 20,575 patients are males, 12,637 are females and 17 are transgender patients.