According to a senior official from the School Education Department, though there are no compulsory annual exams for students from classes 1 to 8, those in classes 9 and 11 will have exams at the end of the academic year.

“Several lakh students, especially from the government and aided schools, did not have online classes as was organised by the private institutions. As students of classes 9 and 11 will be facing board exams next year, they need to be qualified to get promoted based on the academic activities,” the official said.

Pointing out that truncated syllabus for all classes was ready, he added that the government was also planning to introduce bridge courses so that government school students from classes 9 and 11 would have adequate knowledge in the subjects to shift to the next class even if the annual exams are not conducted.

“There were several requests from various stakeholders, especially from southern districts, to resume school at least for classes 9 and 11 students,” he said. Now that schools are reopening on Tuesday for classes 10 and 12, the senior officials would review the outcome of the classes and then discuss the possibility of reopening schools for classes 9 and 11, the official added.

The government would consult the health experts and also obtain feedback from the parents before reopening schools for other classes, he said.

All the pros and cons would be considered before taking any decision, said the official, and added that the government’s priority was to ensure the safety of students.

“The expert panel that was constituted to suggest ways to make up the academic loss will also work out a plan; they would send their recommendations to the government,” the official said.

The Greater Chennai Corporation will host teacher-mentors to track students’ health as the civic body is all set to reopen classes 10 and 12 on Tuesday.

Corporation assistant education officer V Muniyan said each mentor would have 25 students under them. “While the teachers handling the classes 10 and 12 will handle the academics, those of lower classes will act as mentors. They will make sure that the students are screened for temperature and identify those with any variation. The mentors will inform the local sanitary inspector if need be,” Muniyan said.

Apart from monitoring students, the mentors will also contact parents who are hesitant to send their wards to schools. They will persuade them and explain the safety protocols in place on the premises.

The civic body also has appointed teachers to monitor toilets, wash areas, playgrounds and other places to prevent gathering of students.

It may be noted that close to 7,000 students are in Class 10 in Corporation schools and around 5,000 in Class 12.

The civic body expects 100 per cent attendance from Tuesday. It will give special attention to students who could not attend online classes conducted since June.

As per civic body estimates, 30 to 40 per cent students had not attended online classes. They will be taught the lessons they missed.

“Also, we will make arrangements for online classes for students who fail to attend the classes in person. We recorded around 90 per cent pass last year. We will take all measures to maintain that,” Muniyan added.