Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday announced that students of standards one to nine will be promoted this year without having to appear for examinations since all schools have been closed due to the State-wide lockdown to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

In yet another measure to avoid crowds in public places, the Chief Minister banned running tea shops across Tamil Nadu from 6 pm on Wednesday until further orders. Besides, the Chief Minister said he came to know that a section of the students could not appear for the Plus Two examination conducted on March 24.

Examinations for these students would be conducted separately and the date would be announced later. The above decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister at his residence. Chief Secretary K Shanmugam, DGP LK Tripathy, Chennai City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan and School Education Secretary Dheeraj Kumar.