Students who will appear for the Class 10, 11 and 12 State board examinations in March and April 2020 will get an extra 30 minutes of writing time, the Directorate of Government Examinations has said.
Minister for School Education K.A. Sengottaiyan said that the decision to extend the duration of exams was based on several representations received from parents, students and teachers about how difficult it is for students to complete a paper and give it their best in two-and-a-half hours. “The decision has been taken after consulting officials from the Education Department as well as the Chief Minister,” he added.
Director of the Government Examinations C. Usharani, in a circular, said they had received representations asking for more time. “Furthermore, students will be writing the exams under the revamped syllabus and the decision has been taken keeping their welfare and comfort in mind,” she added.
While students of Class 11 wrote the board exam under the revamped curriculum for the first time in 2019, students of Classes 10 and 12 will be taking the board exams under the new curriculum for the first time in 2020.
Students will be given 10 minutes to read the question paper and five minutes for verification of particulars. They will then write the exam from 10.15 a.m. to 1.15 p.m. Earlier, students of Class 12 used to write their board exams for three hours and the papers were of 200 marks.
After a decision was made to evaluate them out of 100 marks, the School Education Department decreased the time to two-and-a-half hours.
