BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court division bench has reserved its order on the appeals filed by the state government against quashing of Board examinations for Classes 5, 8 and 9 by a single judge. Primary school teachers are anxious about what the next month entails for them.
Several teachers’ associations in the state have raised questions against the government’s arbitrary decision-making, leaving primary school teachers from aided, unaided government and private schools overburdened.
“Many parents and teachers have already booked their tickets for the vacations. If the exams for 5, 8 and 9 are scheduled in the coming days, it will be a big problem for the teachers. We already have invigilation for SSLC exams on a requirement basis, and then there would be compulsory poll duty training and elections. In between all of this, evaluation has to be done too,” said Mahesh AR, state coordinator, Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS).
He added that we cannot demand the private school teachers to delay, or cancel their vacations as they are not bound by government order. “If we push a little, they will directly hand in their resignation. What are we supposed to do in such a situation?” he asked. Many teachers also opt for jobs in private schools from other districts or states and visit their hometown during summer.
Another CBSE teacher opined that they are being overworked and underpaid. Despite several government orders, there is no minimum pay for private school teachers. “Apart from invigilation and evaluation, this year we also have election duty, but with very little appreciation or compensation. Nobody is thinking about teachers and their welfare,” said Sreenidhi K, the general secretary, of the Karnataka State Primary School Teachers Association (KSPSTA).
“The government and court should think of the children and the impact on them. Their future is being played with,” opined Chandrashekar Nugli, general secretary of the Karnataka State Primary School Teachers’ Association which has over 1,86,000 teachers under its ambit.