Will quarterly break for Tamil Nadu schools be extended? Minister to announce today

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that a decision on extending quarterly holidays would be announced this evening.

This was a demand put forth by teachers, stating that they needed time to evaluate quarterly examination answer sheets and prepare results.

Speaking about the matter, Minister Poyyamozhi said, "There has been a request to extend the quarterly examination holiday for school students. A decision will be taken after discussing this with the department officials. The announcement will be made today evening."

As per the earlier circular issued by the School Education Department, the quarterly exams for classes 1 to 5 will start on September 14 and on September 18 in the case of students from classes 6 to 10 For higher secondary students, the exams will begin on September 15.

The schedule has been prepared to ensure that all examinations conclude by September 27 (Friday). Following the completion of the exams, a five-day mid-term break will be provided from September 28 (Saturday) to October 2 (Wednesday). Schools are set to reopen on October 3 (Thursday).

However, teachers requested an extension of the mid-term break to nine days, emphasising the need for time to evaluate answer sheets and prepare examination results. They pointed out that schools are scheduled to reopen on October 3, which is a Thursday, and thereafter will close for weekend break just a day later. Citing this, the teachers suggested that if October 3 and 4 are declared school holidays, it would extend the mid-term break nine days, giving them ample time to finish the evaluation work.