Now that the Pre University Course (PUC) lecturers have decided to call off the boycott of paper evaluation temporarily, there is good news for students writing the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations too.
Members of the Karnataka State High School Assistant Masters' Association, who had threatened to boycott evaluation, slated to begin on April 22, have withdrawn their decision, sparing students, parents and the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) officials additional stress. Nearly 20,000 teachers in about 2,000 centres are to begin evaluating SSLC papers throughout Karnataka from April 22.
The association announced the decision to withdraw the call for boycott after a successful meeting with Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri here on Monday.
Association president Manjunath H.K. said that Mr. Kageri has told the teachers that their problems related to wage discrepancies would be resolved in 15 days. “The Minister has promised us that an internal committee would be formed within 15 days to fix the problems that we face in the pay scale,” he added.
Apart from the wage discrepancies, Mr. Manjunath said, the Minister has promised them an ex-gratia of Rs. 500 on a par with PU lecturers.
The Minister will approve the proposal to promote teachers as headmasters and headmistresses in high schools based on their service in 75:25 ratio (75 per cent on promotion and 25 per cent by direct recruitment).
