“The government has allowed us to admit students without transfer certificates between Classes 1 and 8. Also, students studying between Classes 9 and 12 can join without TCs. We will take measures to get their TCs from the EMIS,” said Bharathidasan, education officer of Chennai Corporation, responding to a question regarding some private schools refusing to issue transfer certificates. 

He said the civic body is expecting 1.25 lakh students by the end of September. More than 20,000 students have joined the Chennai Corporation schools leaving private schools. 

“Due to COVID-19 situation, several parents are admitting their children to the Corporation schools. We have very good infrastructure and are providing all the facilities to students free of cost,” he added. 

When asked about the online classes, Bharathidasan said students of Classes 11 and 12 have been provided with laptops by the government and around 50 per cent of the students in other classes have smartphones. “We will try to provide smartphones to those students who do not have one with the help of NGOs. We will continue online classes until the end of the pandemic,” he said.