Chennai: Tamilnadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has said that discussions are being held about reopening of schools for students from classes 9 to 12.
He further said that a final decision will be taken after consulting with experts and based on the instructions of Chief Minister M K Stalin.
With Covid-19 cases steadily coming down, the academic community and managements of educational institutions in Tamilnadu are waiting for the government’s nod to reopen schools and colleges in the State.
The call for reopening of schools began after neighbouring Puducherry announced resumption of classes for students from 9 to 12 standard as well as opening of all colleges.
The Federation of Association of Private Schools has already urged Tamilnadu government to reopen schools and requested the government to permit them to receive full term fees. The Federation has also requested Tamilnadu government to not permit students to enroll in other schools without transfer certificates.
It is to be noted that final results of Class 12 students from State Board schools in Tamilnadu were announced on 19 July, and all 8.16 lakh of them have passed. The board exams, scheduled to be held earlier this year, were cancelled owing to the pandemic.
The announcement of the results came as a big relief to the students who were anxiously waiting as how to the Plus Two marks would be evaluated following cancellation of board exams due to Covid pandemic.
Stalin had on 26 June announced evaluation criteria based on the recommendations of a committee which included Principal Secretaries of School Education and Higher Education Departments, Madras University Vice-Chancellor, Principals of Higher Secondary Schools and experts.
As per the evaluation criteria, 50 per cent maximum weightage has been given to the class 10 board exam marks of the students and 20 per cent weightage was given to their Class 11 marks and 30 per cent weightage for their scores in the Class 12 practical exams (20 per cent) and internals (10 per cent).