Ludhiana: Teachers oppose invigilation duties outside their blocks
District education officer (elementary) Ravinder Kaur defended the decision, stating that the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) issued the orders to ensure transparency in the examination process
Primary schoolteachers have opposed the inter-block invigilation duties assigned to them for Class 5 government school exams starting from March 5 which will end on 13th. This is the first time teachers are being sent to exam centres outside their own blocks, a decision that has sparked widespread criticism from the teaching community.
Daljit Singh Samrala, district president of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), criticised the move, stating that teachers in the past were shifted to different schools within the same block. This change, he argued, has led to unnecessary inconvenience and additional problems for both educators and students.
Teachers are not only responsible for invigilation but also for evaluating answer sheets and updating student data online on the same day. Davinder Singh Sidhu, district vice-president of DTF, explained that when teachers worked within their own blocks, they could conduct revision sessions before exams and help students prepare for upcoming ones.
Jagjit Singh Mann, district president of the Government Teachers’ Union (GTU), pointed out that many Class 5 students come from migrant laborer families and struggle with exam preparation at home. “Earlier, we could revise topics before the exam in the morning and guide students afterward for the next one. But now, with teachers stationed outside their blocks, this will not be possible,” he said.
Teachers also played a key role in ensuring that absentee students appeared for exams by bringing them from their homes. With this new system, they fear many children might miss their exams altogether.
District education officer (elementary) Ravinder Kaur defended the decision, stating that the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) issued the orders to ensure transparency in the examination process.