PUNE: Around 30 lakh answer sheets of students who have appeared for the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board examination are untouched due to the non-cooperation protest by the Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers Associations. This has stalled the moderation and checking process of the answer sheets. The HSC examination began on February 21.
“We decided not to let the non-cooperation towards the government affect the students appearing for the examination. However, until concrete decisions are made on the teachers’ demands, the protest will continue this time,” Anil Deshmukh, President of the Federation said.
He added, “Till now, the Board examinations for English, Marathi, Urdu and Hindi papers have been held, and 30 lakh papers have been left untouched. We have also informed the Board that the meetings of chief moderators and moderators will not take place as long as the protest goes on. Every day around 15 lakh answer sheets get added to the lot with passing of each paper.”
While the protestors had a meeting with the State Education Minister Vinod Tawde on February 20, the minister has called for another meeting with the State finance minister on Tuesday, February 26.
“We are really hoping that something positive comes out of this meeting, otherwise we will be compelled to continue our protest. According to the Supreme Court order, it is compulsory to declare the HSC results by June 5. If that is delayed and the students suffer, only government will be responsible for all the chaos,” Deshmukh stated.
After the meeting on February 20, around 1,656 junior colleges and 523 divisions were declared eligible for aid. However, the decision on other pressing demands like implementation of old pension scheme for all, Seventh Pay Commission, special provisions for teaching staffers who have spent over 24 years in the profession, etc. will be made after the meeting with the finance minister.
