Class 12 practical exams begin in TN
CHENNAI: The practical examinations for Class 12 students of state board schools started on Friday across Tamil Nadu amid worries over a non-stop increase in COVID-19 cases. The examinations will go on till April 23, and the students will sit for the board examinations from May 5.
Officials said exams were conducted on Friday by following strict COVID-19 regulations.
Also during the day, School Education Secretary Dheeraj Kumar and Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan discussed with other top officials the possibility of postponing the Class 12 examinations.
The government had recently postponed the Class 12 language public exam. All other exams will be conducted as scheduled.
The language subject exam, which was supposed to be conducted on May 3, has been pushed as the votes of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be counted on May 2.
Health officials said the pandemic is raising new worries in towns outside major cities. While the semi-urban areas were comparatively low in COVID-19 cases, they are now showing an upswing.
Nagapatinam, Tuticorin, Nagercoil, etc. are causing a headache.
Officials say there is no proper awareness on wearing of masks, safe-distancing and use of sanitiser in these areas.
On Thursday, Nagapatinam recorded 172 cases and the test positivity rate (TPR) is nearly 10 per cent. In Thoothukudi it is 9.
In Coimbatore, Chengalpet, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur and Tiruvallur the TPR was between 8 and 9 per cent. Amid sharp increase of COVID- 19 cases, the Madras High Court decided to go online. The court said that hearing of cases would be done through video-conferencing until further orders. Cases will be heard online only from Saturday at the Chennai High Court and the Madurai branch of the High Court.
The decision was arrived ater Chief Justice
Sanjib Banerjee held discussions with Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan on Thursday.
“Even though the situation in Tamil Nadu may be beter than other places in the country, so as to ensure that immediate preventive measures are taken to arrest the further spread of the pandemic, the State government has requested the High Court of Madras to take appropriate immediate measures so that the foofall in the court buildings is reduced considerably,” a statement from the office of the Registrar General said.