Common assessment test for Classes 6-8 unlikely in Tamil Nadu

As schools till the middle level have been closed once again due to spread of coronavirus across Tamil Nadu, the much expected Common Assessment Exam schedule for students studying from Class 6 to Class 8 is unlikely to be held.

The assessment test was planned to be conducted for all the subjects, including languages from January 5 to 11 for Classes 6-8 in government and government-aided schools.

However, a senior official from the School Education Department on Monday told DT Next that indefinite closure of schools due to the third wave of coronavirus, conducting exams would be difficult.

According to him, about 19 lakh students would have appeared for the exams to give a clear picture of the academic level of each student, including both their knowledge in the subjects and also preparation.

"The exams would have benefited teachers to identify slow learners, and pay special attention to them so that all the portions could be covered in time for their promotion to the next standard," he pointed out.

Stating that question papers for the assessment test have already been prepared by the experts and were kept ready to dispatch to all the schools across the State, the official said the authorities were planning at least to distribute the question papers to the students perhaps at their doorsteps or come to the school and collect it following all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) if the exams could not be conducted in future.

However, the official pointed out that the government is keen to conduct revision tests for the Class 10 and Class 12 students third week of this month as per the plan.

"Since there were no physical classes for Class 1 to Class 9, many schools will have enough space to conduct the revision test for board exam students following Covid protocol," he said adding that the government is also determined to conduct board exam in May and for which notification would be issued shortly.

The official said conducting school annual exams for Class 9 students will be decided according to the pandemic situation. "If in case there would be a lockdown due to the third wave of coronavirus, declaring all pass for those students will be decided by the government,"  he added.