The state governments of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have announced that students in Classes 1 to  9 would be promoted to the next grade without final examinations this year. The decision comes in the wake of fears over the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

According to a press release from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, a meeting was held on Tuesday evening in the presence of Chennai city police commissioner, the Director General of Police, the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary for school education.

“It was brought to my attention that many students in Tamil Nadu were not able to attend their exams on Tuesday due to preventive measures in place against coronavirus. Hence, for those who couldn’t write their exams on March 24, 2020, arrangements would be made to conduct the exam on another day, which will be announced later,” read the statement.

The government further announced that all students in Classes 1 to 9 in Tamil Nadu would be promoted to the next grade without having to write the annual exams this academic year. Incidentally, the government of Puducherry made the same announcement earlier on Wednesday, in which Chief Minister Narayanasamy said that students in Classes 1 to 9 would be given an ‘all pass’ to progress to the next grade without a final exam.

Tamil Nadu had ordered all educational institutions, except medical colleges, to shut till March 31 as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. It had also postponed the exams scheduled for Class 11 students in the state as well as Class 10 public exams, which were scheduled to be held between March 27 and April 13. The Chief Minister had also stated that he would announce the new dates for Class 10 exams later.