Five students appearing for their annual Secondary School Leaving Certificate examinations in Thanjavur district availed the ‘exemption from taking Tamil Language paper’ clause and did not appear for the examination on Wednesday.
According to official sources, in Thanjavur Education District domain two boys and two girls opted for the ‘exemption’ clause and in Kumbakonam Education District a lone boy availed this facility as they had chosen other languages as their Part-I paper till Ninth Standard.
Inquiries reveal that on and off pleas for exemption from appearing for the Language Part-I (Tamil) paper by a section of students having other India languages as their mother tongue and petitions from linguistic minority institutions for exemption for their students were accepted and necessary orders were issued by the Courts in the past.
Even this year, a similar plea from a student who had migrated from the CBSE syllabus to the Tamil Nadu State Board curriculum in 2025 has sought exemption from appearing for the Language Part-I (Tamil) paper in 2026 SSLC Public Examination and was granted by the Madras High Court as a ‘one-time relief’ in January this year.
Meanwhile, a total of 493 students (294 boys and 145 girls) abstained from taking up the Language Part-I (Tamil) paper in Thanjavur district and 360 students (260 boys and 100 girls) failed to turn up for the examination in Tiruvarur district.
