News Headlines
Tamil Nadu: 50,000 Students Absent In 12th Board Exams; School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Says Parents And COVID To Blame
Swarajya Staff
Mar 17, 2023, 10:26 PM | Updated 10:26 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government and School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh have been under pressure for the past few days to answer as to why around 50,000 students did not turn up for the first paper of the ongoing 12th standard board examination.
After a review meeting conducted yesterday (16 March), Mahesh said that there are several reasons like exam fear, parents taking their children to work instead of sending them to school and students finding it difficult to cope with the syllabus after getting used to an automatic 'all-pass' during the Covid days etc.
He added that certain districts like Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Kallakurichi etc were facing higher absenteeism.
Regarding the percentage of absentees, he said that it is 5.6 per cent, which is above the average of 4-5 per cent seen in previous years. Most of these students were from government schools. A total of around 8.51 lakh students were supposed to appear for the examination.
According to educationists, many of the absentee students were the ones who had stopped coming to school but they were issued hall tickets in the hope that they would come directly to the exam.
They added that it was not fair to blame the students and their parents alone as a large part of the school education budget was spent on teachers' salaries rather than school infrastructure.
Further, they said that lack of proper infrastructure like toilets was an important reason for female students discontinuing their studies.
Mahesh said that his department has decided on steps like immediate enquiry about absentees after the end of the exam, asking the school teachers and management committees to reach out to families so that they attend the rest of the exams or at least attend the supplementary exams in June/July.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Introducing ElectionsHQ + 50 Ground Reports Project
The 2024 elections might seem easy to guess, but there are some important questions that shouldn't be missed.
Do freebies still sway voters? Do people prioritise infrastructure when voting? How will Punjab vote?
The answers to these questions provide great insights into where we, as a country, are headed in the years to come.
Swarajya is starting a project with an aim to do 50 solid ground stories and a smart commentary service on WhatsApp, a one-of-a-kind. We'd love your support during this election season.
Click below to contribute.