Edu Minister seeks reasons for absenteeism in board exams

CHENNAI: To discuss student-absenteeism for Class 12 board exam and advancing the final exams for students up to Class 9, the School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi held a meeting with chief education officers (CEOs) and higher officials across districts on Thursday.

Speaking to media persons after the meeting, the minister clarified several speculations and said, “The CEOs, other officials of the department and district collectorate have been directed to ascertain reasons for absenteeism. And, counsel and convince parents to encourage students to write exams.”

Department officials say that it’s common for 4-5% of students to be absent for final exams. As many as 50,674 students, including 49,559 school students, were absent for the language exam held on March 13. To identify the reason for absenteeism, the department has begun taking steps to identify these students right away.

“We’re not waiting until the exams are over to identify them. Though they’ve missed the language paper, we’re trying to identify them and make them sit for science and math papers,” the minister added.

He also pointed out that the department had managed to bring 1.90 lakh drop-outs back to school, but they’ve not continuously attended schools and have been skipping final exams too. Interestingly, the department officials are unable to convince parents to allow their wards back to school.

“As many students from the higher secondary classes have already begun working, some parents seem reluctant to send them back to schools. However, these parents will be counselled through the school management committee (SMC),” pointed out Minister Poyyamozhi.

He said that absenteeism is higher in Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Krishnagiri, Kallakurichi and Karur. “There could be various reasons for absenteeism like declaring all-pass during COVID-19 lockdown. So, students are hesitant to write the exam,” he noted.

Responding to the question on advancing the exams for students up to Class 9, the minister clarified, “After consultation with the State Health Department, we decided not to advance the final exam for students till Class 9. There is no possibility to cancel the board exam for Class 11, as the syllabus is crucial for students who want to pursue engineering.”