As expected, the Telangana government has decided to pass all the 10th class students without any exams for the second year in a row, keeping in view the surge in COVID-19 cases, and about 4.60 lakh students studying in 10th class will heave a sigh of relief.
Similarly, the first year students of Intermediate Board (11th class) will be promoted to the next class without exams while the second year exams will be held at a later date. Results of the 10th class students will be prepared on the basis of an objective criteria to be developed by the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Board at a later date. If the candidates are not satisfied with the allotted marks, they will be given an opportunity to take the exams when the conditions are conducive.
The decision was taken by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao after a review meeting with senior officials. Last year too, the Chief Minister took a surprise decision to cancel the SSC exams and declare all the students passed.
Special Chief Secretary Chitra Ramchandran, in an order, said the government decided to cancel the exams to be held from May 17. The decision of the CBSE to pass all the 10th class students apparently made the move easier for the government.
Inter backlogs
With regard to backlogs of second year students, they will be given minimum pass marks since the first year students are being promoted. About 1.92 lakh students who failed in first year exams in various subjects stand to benefit from this. Given the changes in the award of marks, the government has also decided to scrap the 25 per cent weightage of Intermediate marks considered for ranks in engineering and medical and agriculture allied courses filled through EAMCET. Ranks are calculated taking into account the EAMCET score and 25% of the Intermediate marks.
On the conduct of exams for second year students, a review meeting in the first week of June will take a call and decide the dates. Students will get the dates of the exam 15 days in advance so that they can prepare accordingly.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi Vidyarthi Vibhagam (TRSV) thanked the Chief Minister for the gesture. In a statement here, Kishore Goud of TRSV said this would go a long way not only in containing the virus but also reduce unnecessary tension among parents and students. The Telangana Intermediate Eduction JAC chairman P. Madhusudhan Reddy and secretary general Kalinga Krishna Kumar also welcomed the decision.
