In a major relief to college students, the Tamil Nadu government has cancelled semester exams for many courses for the academic year 2019-2020. Following the recommendation of a high-level committee, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami decided to cancel the semester exams. 

In a press note released by the government, the Chief Minister announced the cancellation of exams for the following courses.

> The first and second year students of arts and science colleges and students of polytechnic courses

> The first year students of post graduate courses 

> First, second and third year students of bachelors of engineering courses (BE, BTech)

> First year students of masters in engineering (ME)

> First and second year students of masters of computer application (MCA - 3 years course) and first year students of MCA (2 years course)

The Chief Minister said that students who are exempted will be promoted to the next academic year. He also said that the Higher Education Department will release a detailed order on the decision of the government. 

The Tamil Nadu government had formed a high-level committee to review the feasibility of conducting semester exams for arts and science, engineering and technology students. The committee recommended against conducting the semester exam due to the spread of coronavirus. 

The release said, considering the welfare of students, the University Grant Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) had decided to cancel the semester exams for select courses. 

While most institutions postponed their semester exam due to the coronavirus induced lockdown, several private institutions went ahead and conducted online exams for their students, as there was no announcement from the government. 

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu recorded 5,849 new cases of COVID-19 taking the total number of active cases in the state to 51,765. The state government said that 1,86,492 people have tested positive for the coronavirus. Around 3,144 people have succumbed to the virus in the state while 1,31,583 people have recovered.