“Almost 98 per cent of students are attending offline classes in government schools. The schools in Tamil Nadu have not reported any drop outs; their enrolment has only increased. The government is considering conducting Class 10 exams before the coming Assembly polls. More centres will be opened in order to cater to their requirement,” he told the media in Erode. 

The Minister also clarified that temporary teachers appointed by the Parents Teachers Association could not be appointed in permanent jobs. He added that the number of students taking the Class 12 exam would be announced soon. 

Earlier, Sengottaiyan participated in the ‘bhoomi puja’ event of the project to develop Kunderipallam dam into a tourist spot. According to the plan, the dam site would be spruced up with facilities like drinking water, rest rooms, parking area and approach roads at an estimated cost of Rs 1.86 crore. “During rainy season, the dam gets filled up twice or thrice in a year with water released from Karnataka. About 300 cusecs of water is released from the dam on a daily basis for about 20 days in a year. To store this excess water, efforts would be taken to increase the level of the dam by three feet,” he said.