ERODE: Erode’s slide to fourth position in the SSLC exam results this year has not gone down well with almost all in the district. The subsequent stock-taking has revealed a rather unusual suspect behind the debacle: strict vigilance by invigilators at exam centres. This assessment was made by a cross-section of teachers, sore over losing the rather ‘hard-earned’ first rank in SSLC and Plus Two exams last year.
Blaming it on crackdown on private schools, teachers said that the district would have put up a better show had things been all the same like last year.
By last year, the reference is to the Andhiyur incident, where some teachers took the onus of answering a few students’ sheets on themselves at a private school. In the aftermath of the incident, four invigilators and a few hall supervisors, including government school teachers and headmasters, were suspended and the students concerned were called to Chennai for an inquiry.
When the murky details emerged, it was found that some teachers and headmasters used to find posting as supervisors at some private schools during public exams.
When Collector Dr S Prabhakar took charge, he took a leaf out of Election Commission’s book on posting poll officers by randomising the appointments using computers.
This time around when students sat down to write the public exams, there reportedly was no ‘helping hand’.
While the damning assessment casts a shadow of doubt on the previous year’s efforts, a few rotten eggs can scarcely belittle the hard work put in by the deserving students.
This year’s results were by no stretch of imagination poor as the district fared well, both in SSLC and Plus Two exams with a success rate of 97.97 per cent and 96.99 per cent, respectively. The district had been the numero uno for the past three years in the SSLC, while it topped the charts for two consecutive years in Plus Two exams.
“The SSLC pass percentage in government schools came down by three per cent and in aided schools by 1.5 per cent. In the Plus Two exam, government and aided schools retained their position, but the success rate of private schools fell slightly,” said Chief Educational Officer R Balamurali, who has just taken over from P Ayyannan.
Nevertheless, the results are good overall, he said, adding that the district lost out on the first position by a narrow margin.
In some schools, the pass percentage came down due to local conditions. Reviews would be conducted for the schools where the pass percentage came down, he said.
A meeting of heads of high and higher secondary schools would be held soon to deliberate on ways to address the shortcomings. Steps would be taken to regain the top place, he said.
Keeping watch
Following the Andhiyur incident, wherein some teachers wrote exams for students, invigilation has been very strict in private schools in Erode district