The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Additional time for students taking public examinations

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Tuesday, Feb 26, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Additional time for students taking public examinations

Meera Srinivasan

Official announcement on the decision is expected very soon

— File Photo: R. Ragu

For a calm approach: Class X and XII students will now get more time to plan their paper.

CHENNAI: The State government is considering providing additional 10 minutes’ time to candidates appearing for the Class X and XII examinations conducted by the State Board this year.

An official announcement is expected very soon.

The decision is aimed at allowing students to relax and go through the question paper calmly before they attempt it, a highly placed source in the School Education Department told The Hindu on Monday.

The question paper would be distributed 10 minutes ahead of the actual time of commencement of the examination. Students could go through the question paper, and possibly decide on the order they will follow while attempting questions, and mentally prepare themselves for the following three hours, the official said.

Officials expect the move to be particularly helpful for students in rural areas who travel quite a distance to reach their examination centres. Though the Department considered taking this decision earlier this year, some sections expressed apprehension about possible increase in malpractices during the additional time provided. However, it had now been decided that the question papers would be distributed in advance and the answer scripts only at the beginning of the three hours allotted exclusively for writing.

This year, about 6 lakh students will appear for the Class XII examination and nearly 10 lakh candidates will take the Class X examinations conducted by the State Board. The Department’s decision is in line with The Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) initiative in the year 2005 to provide additional 15 minutes to students appearing for the Class X and XII board examinations.

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