Near 50K Class 12 students who skipped Boards to be counselled

CHENNAI: School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Friday said measures would be taken to prevent school dropouts and enable absentees in just-commenced Class 12 public exams to take supplementary exams in July.

Replying to a special call attention motion in the Assembly regarding the abstention of nearly 50,000 students for the language paper of Class 12 Boards, Mahesh said the government has allowed several long absentees and dropouts of last year to appear for the public exam by avoiding strict compliance with the attendance norms as a special case owing to the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19.

Reiterating that the government would strictly adhere to the 75 per cent attendance rule from next year, Mahesh said of the 47,943 students who did not appear for the language paper, 38,015 belonged to government schools, while government-aided and private schools accounted for 8,848 and 1,080 student absentees respectively.

Informing the House that the department was identifying the absentees (for exams) with the help of field-level officials and school management committees, the minister said the list of absentees would be furnished to the School Management Committees and the students, as well as parents, would be offered counselling to appear for supplementary exams to be held in coming July. The minister

also proposed to raise awareness on the 14417 helpline besides creating a special training centre at the school level on supplementary exams and career counselling.

Mahesh said that details of students abstaining from school for three or more days per week would be monitored on the EMIS portal at the school principal level, while students abstaining for six days in two weeks and nine days in three weeks would be monitored on the EMIS portal at the block level and district coordinator level respectively.

Asserting that students abstaining for four weeks would be considered potential dropouts and included in the common pool data, the minister said the district Collectors, in coordination with other departments, would take necessary action for the socioeconomic well-being of the vulnerable students.

NEW DELHI: Edtech major Byju’s on Friday denied reports that it is considering a merger of rival Gaurav Munjal-run Unacademy into Aakash Educational Services.

Reacting to a media report which said, citing sources, that SoftBank-backed Unacademy is in talks for a potential merger with Byju’s-owned Aakash, the company denied any such move.

“We strongly deny that Byju’s is considering a merger of Unacademy into Aakash Educational Services. As a parent company, Byju’s is committed to investing in the growth of Aakash Educational Services, which is growing at more than 50 per cent year-on-year,” a Byju’s spokesperson said in a statement.

An Aakash spokesperson said they have had “absolutely no discussions with Unacademy or any other player to merge with Aakash Educational Services.

“Aakash is a market leader in our segment with an impeccable track record of delivery and results and we are focused on our organic growth and delivery to the lakhs of students that have trusted us,” the Aakash spokesperson added.

Unacademy declined to comment on the development.

Meanwhile, Byju Raveendran-run Byju’s is in advanced stages to raise $250 million at a flat valuation (at $22 billion the company last announced) as it struggles to repay a $1.2 billion term loan and turn profitable in 2023.

The latest funding round is in “final stages of discussion and will be closed soon within a few weeks”, according to sources.

Byju’s also declined to immediately comment on the development.

Byju’s is in advanced stages to raise $250 mn at a flat valuation (at $22 billion the company last announced) as it struggles to repay a $1.2 billion term loan and turn profitable in 2023