If higher secondary teachers boycotting assessment and moderation of HSC exam answersheets was not enough for the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), over 12,500 teachers from unaided schools in the state announced the boycott of all exam duties for the ongoing SSC exams from Tuesday.
The Maharashtra State Permanently Unaided Schools Action Committee (MSPUSAC) that announced the boycott said that the government has done nothing to curtail the exploitation at the hands of private bodies for the past 14 years.
Prashant Redij, head of Mumbai division of the MSPUSAC, said that repeated requests to the government to provide them with aid have only fallen on deaf ears.
“The government has simply given permission to private players to start schools and also allowed them to hire teachers. However, it has failed to safeguard the interests of the teachers. This has resulted in our exploitation in terms of salaries,” said Mr Redij.
He added that members of the MSPUSAC, voicing their demands, even met the chief minister last year, but nothing came of it.
“We have been suffering for the past 14 years, hoping that someday the government would help us. However, we are left with no option but to boycott exam duties,” he said.
Mr Redij added that they will also be holding a protest at Azad Maidan on Tuesday.
On the other hand, board officials said that they were trying to find ways to resolve the issue. “We have asked all division heads to provide us the details of the exam centers that will be subjected to the boycott. The board will try arranging alternatives,” said Krishna B. Patil, secretary, MSBSHSE, Pune.
He added that as the number of protesting teachers was small it would not affect the exams in a big way.
The MSPUSAC has over 65,000 teachers as its members across the state, but only 12,500 teachers involved with SSC exam duty will participate in the boycott.