Tamil Nadu government cancels arrear exam for all college classes except final year students

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday cancelled arrear exams for all college students except for those giving their final year assessment. Earlier the state government had said that though semester exams have been cancelled for all but final year students due to COVID-19, those who were not satisfied with the internal assessment had the option of writing the exam again. As per a report in The Times of India, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy issued a statement saying, “Based on demand from students and recommendation by the expert panel, all students except final year students who paid fees for writing arrears are exempted from writing the exams. The marks for these exams will be awarded based on the guidelines given by University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).” As per the report, except for those appearing in terminal exams, the state government has already promoted all students under BA, BSc, MA, MSc courses to the next academic year. As per the report, the state government awarded marks to the candidates giving 70 percent weightage for internal marks and 30 percent weightage for previous semester exams. The report added that the state higher education department held a review meeting with vice-chancellors to take a decision on arrear exams and keeping in mind the rising cases of COVID-19, the vice-chancellors favoured for its cancellation. According to a report in The News Minute, the Tamil Nadu government had also granted exemption for students in polytechnic courses and those pursuing masters in Computer Applications as well. While the University Grants Commission (UGC) had ordered all universities and colleges to complete conducting final semester exams by 30 September, Tamil Nadu had written to the Union Minister for Education explaining that it was not possible to conduct the exams in the state by the given date due to rising number of COVID-19 cases and other practical difficulties. Meanwhile, according to a report in PTI, School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan has said that the Tamil Nadu government has requested the Centre to scrap NEET or at least exempt students from the state from attending the exam it is held.