Don't use teachers for poll duty, WBGSTA urges SEC

Kolkata: West Bengal Government School Teacher's Association (WBGSTA) is writing to the State Election Commission, urging it not to involve school teachers in election duties, as they will have to meet the deadline for examining the answer scripts of Secondary and Higher Secondary examinations.

The WBGSTA feels that the additional responsibility of the panchayat elections may hamper the process of examination of the answer scripts.

The WBGSTA is also bringing the matter to the notice of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state Education minister Partha Chatterjee. It is also urging the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary examination to take necessary steps, so that the teachers can seriously take up the job of examining the answer scripts of the two very important examinations.

As per the assessment of WBGSTA, a total of 19 lakh examinees have appeared for the examination with the total number of answer scripts being more than a few crore. The practical examinations of Class XI will also be held from April 18 to May 7 and it will need the involvement of a number of teachers. The SEC has announced the dates of panchayat elections on May 1, 3 and 5 in 20 districts in the state.

"The teachers, apart from doing their school duties, have to check and scrutinise the answer scripts of so many students after returning to their homes. The voting process needs two days of prior training and reaching the polling booths a day in advance among other nitty gritties. So, the additional responsibility may affect a teacher's health and mind, which in turn may affect their examination work," said Saugata Basu, general secretary of WBGSTA.

The last date for submission of Higher Secondary answer scripts is May 2 for Physics, Chemistry and Accountancy. April 24 for English, April 26 for Mathematics, May 5 for Biology, May 7 for Political Science etc.