Teachers skipping evaluation will now be fined by the Gujarat government, which has passed a resolution to impose a fine ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 25,000 for not turning up for evaluation process for Class 10 and Class 12 exam papers, and their schools. The proposal was approved by the examination committee of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) that framed the policy. It was also later approved by the state government through the resolution.

According to sources, in March 2019, as many as 5,000 teachers did not turn up for evaluation of Class 10 exam papers. and another 5,000 to 6,000 teachers were absent for Class 12 general exam papers evaluation process.

As per the resolution by GSHSEB, if a teacher is absent from evaluation process, he/she would be imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 that has to be submitted to the board. It has also divided the penalty for teachers and their schools based on the number of sections for Class 10 and 12 in a school.

If a school has four sections, each teacher will have to pay a fine of Rs 5,00 and for six sections, the price would be doubled to Rs 10,000. The state government has also laid down several conditions in case a teacher seeks exemption from the evaluation process. For exemption from the evaluation process on medical grounds, he/she has to submit a certificate from the civil surgeon while if the teacher is seeking exemption citing their children taking Class 10 or 12 board examinations, they would not be exempted from now onwards.

A teacher’s resignation has to be approved by the District Education Officer (DEO) and if a teacher is assigned a work by the board or the state government during evaluation process, he has to submit a certificate from a valid authority.

The GSHSEB has claimed that a high number of absent teachers leads to mistakes by evaluators as they are overburdened.

Source: The Indian Express

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