Class XII exams set to begin on Thursday

CHENNAI: It’s that time of the year. The Higher Secondary Examinations are all set to begin on Thursday. Class XII students across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will take their Language I examination, and kick-start the board examination season in the State for this year, which will last till April 20.This year’s HSC examinations will see a five per cent rise in the number of students taking the examination. A total of 7,60,975 students will appear for the examinations this year, 37,430 more than the last year. Sticking to the trend, 4,07,969 of them are girls while 3,53,006 are boys. That’s 54,963 more girls are taking the examinations than boys. The number of Tamil medium students taking the examinations this year is a whopping 5,36,569.The examinations for Class XII students will be conducted from March 8 to March 30, after which the Class X SSLC examinations will begin on April 4 and last till April 20. The HSC examinations will be held in 1,975 centres across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, that will see students from 5,557 schools appearing.Of these, 50,201 students from 412 schools in Chennai will take the examinations in 139 different centres. Of them will be 27,532 girls and 22,669 boys. In Puducherry, the numbers will be 105 schools, 31 centres and 12,042 students (6,641 girls and 5,401 boys). A total of 61,319 private candidates will also take the examinations across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.A press release from the Director of Government Examinations (DGE) D Vasundara Devi also listed a number of measures taken by the Directorate of Government Examinations to ensure smooth conduct of the examinations. The DGE has reiterated its stance against malpractices in the examinations, and has warned of strict action against those indulging in prohibited activities. It noted that 184 candidates were slapped with disciplinary action and punished severely last year.Among the salient features of this year’s HSC examinations, according to the DGE, is the distribution of bilingual question papers for major subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Botany, Zoology, Mathematics, History, Commerce, Accountancy and Economics. The question papers will carry the questions in both English and either Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada or Urdu where suitable.Forty nine convicts would appear for the exams inside the Puzhal and Vellore jails.