Schools, students seek clarity on Board exams

MADURAI: With the school education department assuring that board exams for Class X to XII students will be held without fail, schools and students hope that they are held a little late than usual to be better prepared. “It was first announced that board exams will be held in April-May, then that it will be in March since the syllabus is reduced and even now, there is no clarity. One month delay than usual would be helpful for students. Instead of having the exams around February end to start of March, they could be held by March end to start of April,” said M Arumugam, state president, Federation of Private School Associations (FePSA).

“Completing the syllabus won’t be an issue, but it will be tough for students to face board exams if they are pressured to cover topics without proper revision, especially as they have never written any board exam, ” said the headmaster of a government HS school. S Shanthi, a Class XII Physics teacher, said that by announcing the time table for exams, teachers can plan better and students will also be more motivated to study.
“If it is held in April or May, it would be good for students. We were able to start learning properly only when schools reopened,” said N Rashmi, a Class XII student. “This is the first time we are doing practicals so we need more time to learn. If practicals are conducted by February, there will be hardly enough time after that to revise the syllabus for main exams,” added another Class XII student, S Tamil Selvan. “If the exams are postponed to May, then students will be affected again next academic year,” said Senthilnathan M, president, Private Schools Correspondents’ Confederation.