Amid sporadic light showers across Tamil Nadu, the state board examinations for Class XI commenced on Tuesday, May 12. As many as 8,85,053 students from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry had applied for the exam.

It was the Language paper examination that started off the proceedings on Tuesday, and the next exam, English language, is scheduled for Thursday.

According to an official statement from the school education department, two students, from Salem and Tiruchy, were caught for malpractice on the first day.

While about 5.03 lakh students appearing for the exam are from the Science stream, 2.70 lakh are from Commerce, 14,885 from Arts, and 47,882 from vocational streams. As many as 3,119 centres have been set up to conduct these exams. With the exams ending on May 31, the board may take about a month’s time to complete the evaluation process and checking of the answer sheets. The results are expected to be announced on July 11.

Meanwhile, the school education department, through its 14417 helpline has continued offering support to students. “Before the day of the exam, students can call between 4 and 7 pm to clarify any doubts that they have. Apart from this, teachers are also offering them clarity. We have continued giving psychological support to the students in case of any anxiety or distress before the examination,” said an official from the helpline.