Acclaimed educationist V. Vasanthi Devi, 81, has moved the Madras High Court against the State government’s decision to conduct board examinations for Class X from June 15.
Appearing before a Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and Anita Sumanth on Tuesday, senior counsel R. Vaigai, representing Ms. Devi, said that out of 9.44 lakh students who were slated to write the exams this year, 4.07 lakh were from government schools; 1.38 lakh from fully aided schools; and 91,918 from partially aided private schools.
“Thus, 6.38 lakh students are from State-funded schools having only basic minimum infrastructure with no fancy trappings for their education,” she said, adding that these students, hailing from poor backgrounds, would be at a disadvantage when compared to others who could afford to attend online classes, refresher courses and so on.
Further, many students who were residing in hostels run by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare department had left their books behind when they rushed to their residences before the lockdown came into force. Similarly, students residing in hilly areas and other difficult terrains were not even aware of the government’s decision to conduct examinations from June 15.
Accusing the government of having ignored these ground realities, the senior counsel said the only way out was to cancel the board examinations for Class X this year and promote students based on their performance in pre-board examinations, as had been done in Punjab and Chhattisgarh, or to conduct the examinations after the threat of COVID-19 subsides.