With schools being allowed to undertake administrative and admission related activities starting Monday, admissions for class 11 in Tamil Nadu are expected to pick up . Earlier this week, the School Education Department too issued guidelines for this.
Class 10 students from the 2020-21 batch had their board exams cancelled owing to COVID-19. “Given these special circumstances, we expect that a majority of these students will be allotted the group of their choice in government schools. In rare cases, where the number of applications is high, we might have to use their Class 9 marks as recommended by the government,” said K.P.O. Suresh, president, Tamil Nadu Post Graduate Teachers Federation.
The State government is, however, yet to issue guidelines to prepare the results of the class 10 students. “Admissions, however, can go on since all students will have an all-pass certificate and we are hoping that this is extended to private candidates who were supposed to take up the Class 10 exams as well, so that their admission process is made easier,” Mr Suresh added.
For vocational groups in Class 11, teachers said that there will not be any major change in admission trends. “Students who usually score between 250 to 300 marks in their Class 10 boards seek out vocational groups in Class 11. We do not expect any big change in the number of students opting for vocational courses in the absence of board exam marks -- students who fully understand their capabilities will pick the right groups and not opt for a tougher stream,” said S.N. Janardhanan, State president, Tamil Nadu Vocational Teachers Kazhagam.
The principal of a private school from the city said that since they have been able to conduct assessments online through the last academic year, a mix of both the Class 9 and 10 performance of the students in the school-level exams can be considered for admissions. “We usually see at least 5% to 10% of students from our school joining other schools for class 11. This year, however, less than 5% of the students chose to leave due to the changes and uncertainty in schooling through the pandemic,” he said.
A majority of these students have not taken up the Class 9 annual exams since schools were shut in March 2020. “For members of the unified self-financing schools association in Kancheepuram and Chengalpet, we recommended that schools firstly consider the choice and interest of the students for the group that they prefer. Since they have taken up assessments through Class 9 and virtually in Class 10, their class teachers have been asked to consolidate their performance and give a report about their aptitude which can also be used for reference,” said N. Vijayan, patron, Unified self-financing schools association.
