Junior college teachers refuse to teach environmental studies to students of second year.
Refuse to teach environmental studies to students of second year
MUMBAI: Junior college teachers are in no mood to relent. After refusing to teach environmental studies at the first-year junior level, they have now refused to teach the second year as well. The decision comes after the State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education finalised the proposal to make the subject compulsory for class XII in all streams.
“We have already refused to teach the EVS subject at the first year junior college level. Then the question of teaching the same subject for second year doesn’t arise. Only those teachers who gained expertise in the subject or those who had postgraduation in Geography and Biology should be asked to teach the subject,” A J Singh, general secretary of the Mumbai Junior College Teachers’ Union said.
The Board, however, has decided to introduce the subject for the students at the second year junior college level from the next academic year. “We will only provide the syllabus for EVS. No textbooks will be printed and teachers will have to teach by referring related books. At the HSC Board level, students will have to appear for the internal exam conducted by colleges,” said Dr V Kalpande, Chairman of the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. The Board in its earlier directive wanted teachers with a postgraduate degree in geography and zoology to teach the subject. After learning that there is a shortage of such teachers, it wanted teachers of 14 different subjects to teach the subject at the junior level.
However, in protest, they have not yet begun teaching the subject. Mukund Andalkar, general secretary of the Maharashtra Junior College Teachers Union, said: “Before introducing the subject at the standard XII, the board should make it clear it whether the subject should be taught regularly at standard XI. How can second year students learn EVS when they haven’t learnt the basics? The board just issued verbal orders to the School Education department to make it mandatory for teachers of specific subjects to teach EVS. We have refused.”
Students are confused. Radhika Dave, a St Xavier’s College student, said: “Our academic calendar does mention EVS. But till date, not a lesson has been taken. We are clueless.”
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