The Tamil Nadu government has on Tuesday announced that all students from Classes 1 to 8 in all schools will be declared 'pass' and they will be promoted to the next levels. The announcement from the government has come amid the prolonged closure of the schools in the wake of the horrendous second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

According to reports, the government has passed the order of declaring all pass for the students in classes 1 to 8 on the Right to Education Act. The order was issued by the Directorate of Primary School Education on Tuesday and the directorate has said that it will make announcements concerning the re-opening of schools after the lockdown in the state is lifted up. 

The order has come in line with the previous government's order of canceling the board exams for Classes 9 to 11 owing to the pandemic spread. In a circular issued on Tuesday, the Directorate said, "The district education officers are instructed to inform the headmasters of all the schools under their control that the students of Classes 1 to 8 from all schools are declared all pass on Right to Education Act." 

 It further added, "No student studying till class 8 should be withheld. All students should be declared pass. The students should not drop out of school. All the district education officers should send a report on the measures taken by them to this effect to deesections@gmail.com." The education system of the students in Tamil Nadu has become a part of the new normal as the students are currently stuck to the virtual classes. 

Earlier, the government has cancelled the board exams for Classes 9 to 11, and now it has declared the students in Classes 1 to 8 all pass. With such developments, the government is just one step away from announcing the conduction of the board exams for the students of Class 12. As the board exams for Class 12 are imperative to benchmark the grades of the students in universities, the government has asserted that the board exams for Class 12 will be conducted at any cost.

The government has said that the board exams will be conducted for Class 12 students after the COVID-19 spread subdues and comes under control. The government has also formed a committee to conduct Class 12 board exams after the pandemic and this committee will also be deciding on how the marks should be awarded for the Class 10 students in light of the cancellation of board exams for them. 

The reports close to the developments say that the government is considering conducting Class 12 board exams between July and August and the students will be writing the board exams at their own schools by adhering to the COVID-19 protocols and guidelines. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 27,936 fresh COVID-19 cases, 31,223 discharges, and 478 deaths on Monday. Overall, the state has recorded 20,96,516 cases so far as of Monday of which 3,01,781 are active, 17,70,503 have been discharged, and 24,232 had succumbed to the viral infection.