CHENNAI: Questions prevail as to whether the State board exam results would be delayed as thousands of government school teachers across the State have entered into various forms of protest. While a section of teachers are boycotting evaluation of test papers, about 5,000 elementary school teachers from many districts have gathered in Chennai and are holding a hunger strike since Monday.
A top official in the School Education Department claimed that evaluation will not be delayed as the officials are holding negotiations with various teachers’ associations. The official claimed that the teachers have withdrawn their protest, while the associations Express contacted denied it. The official added that evaluation of Class XII papers was almost over. However, Class X evaluation started only on Tuesday.
TN Post Graduate Teachers Association and TN Graduate Teachers Association decided to boycott paper evaluation for Classes X, XI and XII. They said the inclusion of Class XI into the public exam system has shrunk their summer holidays to two weeks in May. Elementary, middle and secondary teachers are demanding pay revision. About 1,000 elementary school teachers, who gathered in Chennai on Monday for a hunger strike, were arrested and ferried to Rajaratinam Stadium, said a source.
By Tuesday evening, around 5,000 teachers demanding increase in wages, and their family members, had pooled into the Rajarathinam Stadium.“I was appointed in July 2009, and right now I get `15,000 lesser than another teacher who was appointed a few months before I was,” said M Sekar, an elementary school teacher from Erode.About 30 teachers were hospitalised by Tuesday evening. Despite repeated attempts by the police to persuade the crowd to disperse, the number of protesters only kept growing. Finally on Tuesday evening, the police transported them to government schools within the city.
Elementary school teachers, who were appointed after June 2009, received pay according to the Sixth Pay Commission. There was reduction in their basic pay despite performing the same role as their slightly senior contemporaries. About 20,000 teachers were affected by this are demanding implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission.
A section of high school teachers involved in evaluation of class X, XI and XII papers are boycotting it, stating that they will continue with evaluation only after the government agrees to meet their demands. However, the boycott is not unanimous. Various sub-organisations are only on a partial boycott. While there are 79 centres earmarked for evaluation, teachers boycotted in only about 40.
In centres at Oddanchathram and Aarani, there was a complete boycott, while at other centres over a third of evaluators continued their work. Some teachers have decided to boycott only the first few hours and others wear black clothes or black badges while evaluating papers. “We will correct only 10 answer papers instead of the usual 20 on the first three days (starting Tuesday) and then we will boycott completely if we are not called for talks,” said V Manivasan, president of TN Higher Secondary Post Graduate Teachers Association.
While the impact of the protest on exam results remains unclear, the government is negotiating with various sub-groups. “There are only limited steps that the education department can directly take. But we’ll make sure that there is no delay in (declaration of) results” a top official said.