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Delayed communication on duty roster leaves Ludhiana teachers in limbo on day of PSEB exam
Ludhiana DEO had scrapped exam duty roster for invigilators just two days before the commencement of second-term finals PSEB exams
Confusion prevailed among government school teachers on Friday morning, just before Class 12 students were scheduled to take their first examination for the second-term finals, after the revised exam duty roster was delayed.
Students who had opted for home science took their first exam at 2pm on Friday.
The local district education officer (DEO) had scrapped the exam duty roster for invigilators and deputy superintendents on Wednesday, just two days before the commencement of the second-term finals, citing the “sensitivity of examinations”.
The previous duty roster for Class 10 and Class 12 examinations had been rolled out by block nodal officers (BNO).
The roster was then reframed by the DEO’s office and the revised assignments were conveyed to teachers and school heads late on Thursday evening.
Backdated notification
Notably, the revised roster is dated April 20, while the orders were not received until late Thursday evening.
In the order, the newly assigned invigilators and deputy superintendents were directed to report to their respective centre controllers on April 21.
Meanwhile, schools, kept waiting for the official communication regarding the revised duties even after conclusion of school hours on Thursday.
“I received my duty orders on Thursday around 7pm and was surprised to see the backdated order. The DEO office had directed me to report to my centre controller on Thursday. When I received the order in the evening, how could I have reported there on Thursday morning?” a teacher at a government senior secondary school said, on condition of anonymity.
Confusion reigns
Another teacher claimed that after receiving the revised roster, she had to make numerous calls to find out if the students at her designated centre would take the home science exam or not.
“Since all Class 12 students do not have to appear for home science examination, and the exam was not scheduled at all the centres, teachers kept calling each other to find the contacts of controllers at their respective centres to find out whether they were to report at their centres or at their schools on April 21. This continued even on Friday morning before the exam,” another teacher, who did not wish to be named, said.
Previous exemption requests stand cancelled
The teacher added that the department should have sent the revised roster on time to avoid such a situation .
S“The BNO’s had ensured smooth conduct of Class 8 exams and they would have done the same this time as well. Teachers have been unnecessarily harassed by being assigned duties at far away centres in other blocks in the district. One of my colleagues has to attend the marriage of his real brother this month and he had submitted his plea with proof to the BNO, but now he has again been assigned exam duty”, the teacher added.
Despite numerous attempts, both the DEO and her deputy did not comment on the matter..
