HSC evaluation yet to begin, may delay result

A few days before the HSC exam began on February 21, the Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers Organisation wrote a letter to the School Education Minister, informing about the boycott.

Mukund Aandhalkar, convenor of the Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers Organisation, said, “The board has not been able to conduct any meeting with the chief moderators of respective subjects to finalise the model answer paper used for evaluations. The answer papers may either be in transit or have reached the principals of junior colleges for the teachers to collect. But nobody is going to collect the answer sheets for evaluation due to the boycott. We hope that the government takes a serious cognisance to respond positively.”

Some of the demands by the teachers include increasing the retirement age to 60, implementation of the old pension scheme, seniority promotion practice of state government employees — based on the years of service — be applicable to teachers, and filling up vacant posts of teachers among others. According to the teachers, the state government had assured them of positive resolutions after the agitations in December 2022. “The state government was notified that there will be a boycott of the HSC assessment if it failed to deliver on its assurances,” said teachers in a joint statement.

The delay in the evaluation process is likely to delay the HSC result. According to an official from the state board, the evaluation process usually begins the day the exam starts as the chief moderators finalise the answer papers.
Sharad Gosavi, chairman of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said, “The meeting between the board and representatives from the organisation concluded on a positive note…”