In a significant move, the School Education Department has granted a one-time exemption for linguistic minority students from writing the Tamil language paper under Section I, a compulsory subject, in the Class 10 examination slated for April this year.
The decision, outlined in a Government Order issued on Tuesday, comes in response to requests from institutions run by linguistic minorities. These institutions highlighted the challenges posed by unfilled vacancies for Tamil staff, prompting the department to grant this exemption for the current academic year.
The directive also underscores the department’s insistence on filling these vacancies promptly, ensuring that Tamil exams can resume from the next academic year onwards. Under the terms of the exemption, students from linguistic minority communities who have opted for their mother tongue will now skip the Tamil paper, resulting in a reduction of total exam marks from 600 to 500.
This exemption, clarified by the Tamil Nadu Department of School Education, applies exclusively to non-Tamil linguistic minority students and is valid for one year only. The Government Order, issued by the Secretary of the School Education Department, J. Kumaragurubaran, references the ongoing endeavor to gradually incorporate Tamil into the curriculum across all schools from Class One to Class Ten, starting from the academic year 2006-07. Notably, this law mandates that students appearing for the Class 10 government general examination in 2006 and onwards must undertake the Tamil Part-1 Language test.
However, in response to the plea from the Linguistic Minorities Board, the order makes provision for students whose mother tongue is not Tamil, allowing them to write the exam in their minority mother tongue subject upon applying for exemption.
(with inputs from TNIE)
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