Following State government’s announcement of cancellation of Class X public examinations, private schools must not take any decision autonomously regarding Class XI admissions, said Coimbatore Chief Educational Officer P. Usha on Tuesday.
“The State government will provide certain instructions, before which no school can start the admission process for Class XI,” she told The Hindu. Action will be taken against schools if any violation occurs, Ms. Usha warned.
Parents in Coimbatore are awaiting clarity regarding Class XI admissions.”We have not received any intimation from the school regarding this yet,” said R. Aranganathan, a resident of Selvapuram whose son is studying in Class X at a private school. As all Class X students will be deemed to have passed the public examinations, he expressed hope that there will not be any issues with the admissions.
“We will wait for further instructions from the government,” said Tamil Nadu Private Schools’ Association president R. Visalakshi regarding Class XI admissions. However, the admissions must be conducted at the earliest so that at least online classes to cover the Class XI syllabus can begin, she suggested. Upon completing the calculation of their Class X marks – 80 % marks based on performances in quarterly and half-yearly examinations and 20 % for the attendance – the schools may be permitted to start admission process by taking all COVID-19 precautionary measures so that students shall pick their respective groups for the higher secondary school, Ms. Visalakshi suggested.
Cancellation welcomed
Ms. Visalakshi also welcomed the cancellation of the Class X and Class XI public examinations, terming it as an ideal solution. Noting that the average marks of quarterly and half-yearly examinations will not differ from the public examinations in most cases, she said that students were in the danger of losing an entire year if the examinations were continuously postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases in the State.
U. Abbay Singh, a Class X student of a private school in Siddhapudur, said he was glad that the examinations were cancelled, but was concerned whether an opportunity to score better marks was lost due to the cancellation. Mr. Aranganathan said that both he and his son were nervous about the examinations, but were finally relieved after the announcement.