Chennai, May 4 (IANS): The Class 12 boards in Tamil Nadu will commence on Thursday with 8.37 lakh students appearing for the examination.

All these students have not taken their Class 10 and 11 exams over the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Students of Puducherry will also be appearing writing the examination from Thursday. The tests will be conducted at 3,119 centres across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Government Examinations, in a statement, also said that 28,353 private students and 3,638 students with disabilities will appear for the board examinations from Thursday.

As many as 5.03 lakh students are appearing in the science stream, 2.70 lakh students from the commerce stream, 14,885 students from the arts stream, and 47, 882 students from the vocational stream.

A total of 4,291 flying squads will carry out inspections during the examination.

The Directorate has also set up a control room with helpline numbers for students, parents and the general public can assess. The numbers are 9498383081 and 9498383075.

There will be separate classrooms on the ground floor in examination centres for the students with disabilities who are taking the exams, according to the statement.