PUDUCHERRY: This year, when the Class X supplementary exams were held at a private school in a town 125km from Chennai, there was a high-profile student among the many nervous candidates — Puducherry education minister P M L Kalyanasundaram .

A Class X dropout from a government school in Puducherry, 34-year-old Kalyanasundaram had quit studies in 1991 after failing in science and social sciences, and began helping his elder brother with his sand mining business. About 10 years later, he entered politics and contested the 2006 assembly elections on a BJP ticket.

Now, two decades on, he appeared for the supplementary exam in science at a private school in Tindivanam town on Thursday in a bid to upgrade his formal education. Being the education minister, Kalyanasundaram had told people he felt compelled to complete school and obtain a degree.

"I started preparing for the exams with the help of my friends. I took the science exams yesterday but could not appear for the social science exams today (Friday) as I had to attend a meeting," said Kalyanasundaram. The minister had to attend a meeting chaired by Lt Governor Iqbal Singh on Friday to recommend a candidate from Puducherry for the Padma Shri honours.

Puducherry education minister P M L Kalyanasundaram, who appeared for Class X supplementary exams after a decade, said he had done well on his science paper and hoped to score more than 60 marks. The minister had secured 48 marks in Tamil, 47 in English and 75 in maths in th e Class X exams in 1991.

Kalyanasundaram took his exam at a school in Tindivanam in Villupuram district, 40km from Puducherry as he did not want to attract attention. "He appeared for the science exam yesterday but did not write the social sciences paper on Friday. The photograph on the hall ticket matched the candidate who wrote the exams," said district education officer (Tindivanam) C Shanmugam. He said he came to know the candidate is a Puducherry minister later.

Kalyanasundaram said he had joined BA (history) at Madras University under the Open University stream in 2011-12 after becoming a minister.

"Many people advised me to buy a degree, but I preferred to take a proper route to get a degree. Even after applying for a degree under the Open University stream, I preferred to clear my exams," he said.