Admissions for students into classes one, five and nine across schools in Tamil Nadu for the academic year 2020-2021 will begin this Monday, August 17. Minister for School Education KA Sengottaiyan made the announcement on August 11 while urging parents and school administration staff to strictly adhere to physical distancing norms and other COVID-19 preventive measures during the admission process.
Minister Sengottaiyan also added that for the foreseeable future, no decision to open schools in the state has been made. The Minister has been quoted saying that a decision will be arrived at only after the number of COVID-19 cases begin reducing considerably. He further added that the Chief Minister will take into consideration the views of parents, teachers, academicians and other stakeholders before making the announcement.
A staggered schedule for admissions has been planned by the education department to facilitate a safe admission process. Admission to Lower Kindergarten (LKG) and class one in private schools would be done online. According to the Minister, for admission to entry level classes through the Right to Education (RTE) Act in private schools, the Directorate of Matric Schools will initiate the online admission process from August 17.
With Class 10 results having been announced on August 10, admissions for Class 11 will begin on August 24. The students will receive their provisional mark sheets from their schools from August 17 to 21.
Government schools can issue free textbooks to students when they come in for admissions. Currently, the state has been telecasting lessons for government school students on the state-run Kalvi Television channel. On July 31, the government issued guidelines for online classes, regulating timing and offering precautions to be taken by teachers and parents before and after sessions. Accordingly, it was announced that attendance, assessments and assignments were not mandatory.