Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s General Education has decided to act tough against teachers who bunked higher secondary valuation duty last year and has sent a show-cause notice to 1,962 teachers in this regard. Incidentally, this year’s higher secondary exams are scheduled to start on March 10.
According to the show-cause notice, the teachers have to explain their reasons for skipping valuation camps last year to Joint Secretary, Exams, before March 10. They have also been ordered to attach copies of duty certificates obtained for invigilation and valuation done since 2019. These copies have to be attested by the principal and sent by registered post.
Teachers who do not reply to the show-cause notice or send these documents before March 10 will face disciplinary action, said the Department.
The notice says that with many teachers keeping away from valuation, there was a delay in announcing results. Bunking valuation duty was also a major act of indiscipline, adds the show-cause notice.
Teachers’ reaction
At the same time, it is pointed out that the teachers who were not allotted valuation duty last year and those who were on deputation also have received the show-cause notice.
Moreover, there was a dispute regarding the answer key for the Chemistry paper at last year’s valuation camp. A majority of teachers had initially boycotted the Chemistry valuation citing errors in the answer key. They resumed valuation only after the Department appointed an expert panel which revised the key.
This boycott was a big setback for the government and the authorities, including the Education Minister, had warned stringent action against the Chemistry teachers involved in the protest. However, teachers of all subjects have been served show-cause notice now.
Reacting to the notice, S Manoj, general secretary of the teachers’ organisation AHSTA, alleged that this was an unprecedented move of the government. “We will not tolerate academic fascism intended to spread panic among teachers in the guise of exams and valuation,” he said.