21 February,2014 06:50 AM IST | | Niranjan Medhekar
Threatening to boycott paper assessment, a handful of teachers gave a snub to the meeting intended to discuss elements in assessing the answer sheets of students
While the first Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam went on smoothly yesterday, a question mark arises over the evaluation of the students' papers. Junior college teachers strengthened their agitation by deciding to boycott the correction of papers after which chief moderators refused to attend a crucial meeting at the Pune Board office.
Need All the luck they can get: Despite the threat of a teachers' strike, the first day of exams went smoothly for students. Pic/Nimesh Dave
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education schedules this meeting every year at their head office in Shivaji Nagar wherein key instructions on paper assessment are discussed with chief moderators from nine divisions. This may have a cascading effect, as the chief moderators are expected to brief their subordinates in the area on the marking system to be followed, who in turn train the examiners in their centres on the same.
The Maharashtra State Federation of Junior College Teachers Organisation (MSFJCTO) stood firm on boycotting paper assessment work till the government does not come up with a written notification stating that their demands will be fulfilled.
They claimed that the chief moderators' meeting was not held today. ST Pawar, president of MJCTF, Pune division, said, "Chief moderators of Marathi and French subjects arrived in the city for the meeting but did not attended the meeting to show their support to the organisation's ongoing protest. The protest will continue till the government does not come up with an official order in approval of our demands."
Refuting MSFJCTO's claims, state board officials denied the cancellation of the meeting. "Except for a couple of chief moderators, the rest were present and the meeting was held as scheduled. Besides 42 copying cases, no other complaints have been received on the first day," said Anil Gunjal, additional secretary of MSBSHSE.
13,37,114
Number of students appearing for HSC exams
1,410
Number of differently-abled candidates appearing for HSC exams
42
Number of copying cases registered on day one of the HSC exam
