Chennai: No public exams for class five and eight this year, says Minister

Chennai: While assuring that no public exams for classes five and eight would be held in the current academic year, school education minister K.A. Sengottaiyan said the Tamil Nadu cabinet will take a decision on the issue.

The announcement comes a day after Deccan Chronicle's report about the preparations for public exams to classes 8 and 10 had stirred a huge debate in the state with opposition leaders and educationists urged state government to withdraw the move.

As per the Right to Education Act, schools cannot detain the students until they finish elementary education (class 8). A recent amendment to the act has empowered the state governments to detain the students if they fail in both the annual exam and the re-examination in classes five and eight.

Though the state government said the decision to modify no-detention is yet to be taken, elaborate preparations, including setting of question papers and identifying the exam centres were undertaken by the officials from the school education department.

Educationists slammed the move as a retrograde and backward step in school education. Following the huge public outcry, the school education minister tweeted on Friday that public exams will not be conducted in the present academic year and a decision in this regard will be by the Tamil Nadu cabinet.

However, the educationists said the state government should completely drop the idea for holding public exams.

Educationist Prince Gajendrababu urged the Tamil Nadu government to continue with the no detention policy in future as well.

“We are following trimester system and conducting the exam. There is also a formative and summative assessment of students. It is a good system for evaluation and this system should be strengthened and continued. There should not be a common exam or detention,” he said.

He further pointed out that as per the amendment to the RTE act only regular exams can be conducted to classes 5 and 8.

“As per section 30 of the RTE Act, board exams are prohibited. This section was not amended and it remains the same. So, there is a clear bar for board exam or common exam,” he said.