Fate uncertain for Class 12 final exam ‘absentees’

Chennai

A senior official from the Directorate of School Education told DT Next on Friday that a total of 36,089 Class 12 students could not make it for their last exam in subjects such as Chemistry, Accountancy and Geography on March 24, due to transportation issues. “Though they were allowed to write the exam on June 18, due to surge in corona cases, the government has now postponed it indefinitely,” he added.

Stating that the government has no plans to hold the exam at least till August, the official said: “There is no option; these students will have to wait”. He pointed out that with the valuation almost over, the government has announced that results would be out in July so that students can apply for admissions to various colleges in time.

The affected students rue that their mark in the pending paper, be it Chemistry or Accountancy, would be vital for college admission. “It is not our fault that the last exam was conducted during the lockdown. I could not attend it for want of transportation. Even if the government declares all pass, that will not help,” said D Baskaran, a Class 12 student from Kundrathur suburbs, who missed Chemistry exam. He said that calculating marks based on quarterly or half-yearly, as was done for SSLC students, too will not work as every single mark will play a vital role in engineering counselling. P Rajkumar, another Class 12 Commerce student from Tambaram area, who could not make it for Accountancy exam, said he’s now worried about admission to BCom course. “There’s a tough competition for seats to this course,” he said.

State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) said the government should conduct exams for the absentee students. “The board exam results should be announced only after that,” he said.