Scrap Class X exams, promote all students: Teachers’ assns

Coimbatore: With the Madras High Court on Monday asking the state to file a detailed report on its stance on conducting Class X board exams and the steps it has taken to ensure safety of students and others in the wake of Covid-19, calls for promoting all Class X students have become louder from teachers.
The court directed the state to file a report when hearing a plea moved by the Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teacher Association (TNHHSSGTA), which had challenged the state’s decision to conduct the exam on June 15.
Following this development, teachers and teachers’ association representatives have called for cancelling the exam and promoting all the students to Class XI. They said, unlike Class XII exam, Class X exam was not going to decide the student’s future. Instead of a board exam, students can be made to write a school-level test based on which to give them groups in Class XI.
T Arulanandam, state auditor of TNHHSSGTA, said with the nationwide lockdown in effect till June end, why should the exams be held now. “Scraping it would be fair. In the Class X board exams last year, 95% of students had been promoted. This year, amid the pandemic, all students could be promoted,” he said.
Class X students would either choose to continue in Class XI or would opt for diploma courses, he said. “For those students who choose Class XI, a school-level test can be held later and they could be given groups based on that or they could be given groups based on their half-yearly exam performance. There is no admissions for diploma courses, so it would not be an issue,” he said.
P K Ilamaran, president of the Tamil Nadu Teachers Association (TNTA), said conducting exams at this point would cause more stress to students. “Many students, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, have been preoccupied with helping their families and have lost touch with studies. Even only around 30% of students were able to attend online classes. They have not had the proper time and situation to prepare for exams. So it would be fair to call off the exams and promote all students,” he said.