In light of the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, PMK founder Dr. Ramadoss has demanded to cancel the public examinations for the students and declare them all-pass based on their performances in the school-based exams. The latest demand from the PMK leader has come when Tamil Nadu has entered into the ambit of the fresh set of COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday. 

In his statement, Ramadoss had expressed shock that the arrangements are being made for the board examinations amid the COVID-19 resurgence. He demanded that the public examinations for classes 10 and 12 of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the public examinations for class 12 students of the Tamil Nadu State board must be canceled. 

He further said if exams are to be held, the CBSE can conduct them online and urged the Tamil Nadu state board to cancel the class 12 board exams and the students should be declared as all-pass based on their performances in the other tests. However, the government has rejected his demand and has asserted that the exams will be conducted as planned. According to reports, Tamil Nadu has been reporting a heavy COVID-19 caseload, and earlier, the state government has ordered to shut down the schools for classes 9, 10, and 11 and canceled the board exams. The government has also encouraged schools to conduct online classes. 

Currently, schools are conducting classes for the students of class 12 as they are days ahead of the state board examinations. The state board exam for class 12 has been scheduled for May 3, exactly a day after the declaration of the Tamil Nadu Assembly election results. As the sequel of the COVID-19 resurgence, Tamil Nadu has been implemented with a fresh set of restrictions that came into effect on April 10 and will be in place till April 30. 

The restrictions are speculated to be the prefix of the lockdown, though the government has asserted that there is no plan for the complete lockdown. On Friday, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan has warned the state that the night curfew will be imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic if the restrictions fail to advance towards mitigation.

On Friday, Tamil Nadu has reported over 5000 cases for the first time in 2021. It has reported 5,441 fresh cases, 1,890 discharges, and 23 deaths. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 9,20,827 COVID-19 cases so far as of Friday of which 33, 659  are active, 8,74,305 have been discharged, and 12,863 had succumbed to the viral infection.