Professors to boycott exam correction

The state government has until February 20 to heed the demands made by the Mumbai Junior College Teachers' Union (MJCTU), affiliated with the Maharashtra State Federation of Junior College Teachers' Organisation (MSFJCTO), or else the teachers' body has threatened to boycott the correction of papers of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board exams which begin on February 21.

This is the fourth year that the union has been protesting against the government for turning a blind eye to their 32 demands, some of which include a pension scheme for teachers who joined after November 1, 2005, aid for teachers working in unaided institutions, approval on the appointment of teachers working from May 2, 2012 which has delayed their salaries, and removal of the 80 per cent schools result criteria for secondary school teachers to be eligible for seniority scale and increments.

Anil Deshmukh, general secretary, MJCTU said, "In a meeting with the union, the education minister claimed that he will release a list of directives on our demands within 15 days. 10 days have already passed. We have written a letter to the education minister, giving him the deadline of February 20 for fulfilling our demands or else the union has decided to boycott the correction of HSC exam papers."

On February 2, MSFJCTO had held a state-level strike wherein teachers from MJCTU protested at Azad Maidan and those across the state protested outside their district education office. Nearly 72,000 teachers from the state and around 3,000 in Mumbai had participated in the strike.

The HSC exams begin on February 21 and will go on up to March 20, 2018

The State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education released a list of numbers that students can call from 8 am to 8 pm for counseling during the board exams

However, the board has strictly instructed students and parents to make only anxiety or depression-related calls and not queries pertaining to exam centers or question papers

IN TIMES OF STRESS

• The State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education released a list of numbers that students can call from 8 am to 8 pm for counseling during the board exams

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