Tamil Nadu Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan on Thursday clarified that classes for government school students will be telecast on television channels and not on the internet. The Minister made the clarification following backlash from many on the government’s plan to conduct classes online for government school students across the state beginning July 13.
“We wont have online system. We have three television channels ready. We are preparing the schedule and we can’t make any announcement before the Chief Minister does,” he told reporters. Activists and parents have expressed their concern over the government’s plan, especially in regard to those located in hilly and tribal areas with limited or no access to the internet.
According to reports, Kalvi Thollaikatchi, DD Podhigai, Polimer TV, Puthiya Thalamurai and Thanthi channels will be used to telecast lessons from classes one to 12. The schedule and plan for these lessons are yet to be made public.
The Minister also said that all class 12 students who missed their exams will have to appear on July 27 mandatorily. “For class ten we had announced all pass without having to write the exam. In case of class 12, only if they write exam, we will be able to give them marks. There’s no other way,” he said.
The exam expected to be conducted on July 27 will be conducted in the respective schools of the students who were unable to attend the originally scheduled exam due to the lockdown. While hall tickets for the exam will be made available on Tamil Nadu’s Education Department’s website between July 13 and July 17, the Minister also assured students that necessary transport arrangements will be made by the government. A total of 671 students across Tamil Nadu were unable to attend their final board exam scheduled on March 24 due to the lockdown.