Class XII exams begin with ‘easy’ Tamil paper

Trichy/Madurai: Around 66,000 students appeared in the Class XII public examinations in Trichy and Madurai districts on Monday. A total of 31,569 candidates wrote the Tamil paper at 134 centres in Trichy district while 34,504 students wrote the exam at 110 centres in Madurai district. Tamil teachers said the question paper was clear and student-friendly. Long and short answer questions were largely based on portions covered in quarterly, half-yearly and annual examinations. While some one-mark questions from grammar and poetry sections were slightly challenging, the overall paper was easy.In Trichy district, 30,924 were students from 254 schools, while 645 were private candidates. The examinees included 14,555 boys and 16,369 girls from schools. A total of 333 registered candidates — 274 school students and 59 private candidates — were absent. In Madurai district, 16,468 male students and 18,036 female students wrote the exams. Additionally, 1,136 private candidates also wrote the exam. A total of 543 students were absent. To ensure smooth conduct of the exam and prevent malpractices, the school education department deployed 135 chief invigilators, 134 departmental officers, 21 additional departmental officers and 34 route officers in Trichy district. In Madurai district, 12 question paper custodians, 110 chief superintendents, 110 departmental officers, 33 route officers, 200 standing squad members, and 1,902 hall invigilators were deployed. Students were subjected to mandatory checks before entering the examination halls.Madurai district collector K J Praveen Kumar inspected the Madurai OCPM Girls Higher Secondary School examination centre.