Students sport smiles after easy language exam

Pavithra B from Rex Matriculation Higher Secondary School said, “The paper was easy except for the one-mark questions. I am sure I will score above 90.”

The other language papers on Thursday included Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, French, German, and Arabic. Students said that Arabic, French and Sanskrit papers, too, were easy.

There was thorough checking before students were allowed inside exam centres, with only transparent pouches allowed inside the exam hall. “We were asked to leave our footwear outside – no shoes and socks. Also, the pouch in which we carry our stationery had to be transparent,” said a student from Lady Willingdon Higher Secondary School in Triplicane, where School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan visited to inspect the arrangements.

The minister wished the students good luck for the exam but warned that strict action would be taken against the students who are caught cheating. According to the rules, even teachers were not allowed to mobile cell phones to the examination halls. 

Sengottaiyan also warned that severe action would be taken also against teachers and institutions if they are found helping students who indulge in malpractices. To ensure that there was no cheating, he said that CCTV cameras were installed in strong rooms where answer scripts and question papers would be kept. Students expressed hope that other papers were similarly easy.

Dubbing it as a first in country by School Education department, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday launched a 24/7 helpline – 14417 – for students and parents to provide guidance regarding education, employment, other education department related information, among others.

The launch is in tune with the announcement made during the demand for grants for the school education department in the Assembly that a special helpline would be launched by the state government at a cost of Rs 2 crore to provide information on education and offer guidance to students. School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, and senior government officials were present during the event.

In a separate event, the Chief Minister met 13 students of International Institute of Tamil Studies, who were scheduled to go on an exchange programme at Sultan Idris Education University.

Palaniswami also gave away gifts to students who emerged winners Tirukkural recitation competition organised by the Tamil Development department.