Teachers’ boycott leaves peons, gardeners as exam supervisors

AHMEDABAD, NOV 13: Imagine a scenario when during a crucial semester exam, the student has a doubt in the question paper, but none of the ...

AHMEDABAD, NOV 13: Imagine a scenario when during a crucial semester exam, the student has a doubt in the question paper, but none of the supervisors can help. Instead, the student is actually asked to consult friends around him.

With polytechnic teachers boycotting examination work to demand pay revision, many such institutes have sought the services of peons, watchmen and, in some cases even gardeners, to supervise examinations.

While it has its disadvantages, the arrangement is proving advantageous to students in some ways. “Yes, we had clerks and peons supervising us during the exams. They were ineffective as supervisors. In my class alone, many students copied from chits and from others’ paper, while the supervisor adopted the `do-whatever-you-want-but-don’t-make-a-noise’ attitude,” said a third semester civil engineering diploma student in Ahmedabad.

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On the flip side, many felt cheated. “We work hard throughout the year, but now undeserving students will come up to our level by copying. It’s unfair,” remarked another student.

The agitating teachers admit that the arrangement is unfair to sincere students, but say the government;s inaction has compelled them to boycott examination work. “We feel sorry for the students, but we had no choice. We had postponed our agitation twice following assurances from the government, but it did nothing,” explained G.C. Patel, president of the teachers association.

Another teacher said using peons and clerical staff to supervise the examination may look like the immediate solution, but a supervisor needs to know a number of things. He is supposed to know the codes, and should be able to answer certain queries from students. It is anybody’s guess whether the clerks and peons know all this. “Besides, they are not empowered to catch those indulging in malpractices. Usually, by this time, we would have had 25 to 30 cases of copying in our college, but only one has been detected this year,” he said.

Minister for Technical Education Bharat Barot said he had not heard of any problem because of the strike and the exams were going as per schedule. “As far as the teachers’ demands are concerned, the case is being processed and we should reach a solution by the month-end,” he said.

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According to a senior officer, the problem was the financial position of the government; the Finance Department has reportedly returned the file seven times. In recent weeks, the government’s financial position has further deteriorated and earlier this month, it had even taken an overdraft from the Reserve Bank of India.

After the exams, it will be time for evaluation and this is something that clerks, peons and gardeners just can’t do. R. Pandya, principal of the Government Polytechnic in Ahmedabad, said they may have to use the services of teachers from other institutes. “But a major problem would be the practicals, when we would need technical staff,” he said.