Govt keen to cut absentees as Class 10 exams begin today

CHENNAI: As many as 9.76 lakh students will appear for Class 10 board exams on Thursday at 4,025 centres across Tamil Nadu. The exam is set to go on till April 20.

Of the total number, 5.01 lakh students are boys, 4.75 lakh students are girls and five candidates are trans persons.

In Puducherry, 15, 566 students will appear for the exam.

In case of private candidates, overall 37,798 candidates have registered for the exam, including 11,441 girls and 26,352 boys. And, 264 prison candidates are appearing for the exam in the State.

Subsequently, to prevent students’ absenteeism, the education department through School Management Committees (SMCs) will hold meetings with parents on April 10. The first level of the meeting was held on March 24.

Speaking to DT Next about tracing absenteeism, a higher official with the department said that they have not been keeping tabs on students skipping the exam.

“It was found irrelevant to trace absentee details, hence, we have not been keeping track of it,” said the official of education department.

However, other sources say that all Chief Education Officers (CEOs) have been instructed to trace absentee details but avoid revealing it to the media.

The department is likely to have made this decision following the media glare of over 50,000 students reporting absent for class 12 exam in March.

Overall 50,674 cndidtates (49,559 school candidates and 8,901 private candidates) reported absent for Class 12 Tamil language paper on March 13.

Interestingly, not just absentee details, the education department is also withholding information regarding the number of students writing the exams and numbers on those indulging in malpractice.

“To avoid any outrage and media backlash, the department has been functioning in a secretive manner. However, to better the department, especially education, it is vital that officials and government function in a transparent manner and not otherwise,” critised a city-based educationalist.