UP Board evaluation hitches: When even a lunch break is only on paper, corrections are never easy

At some centres teachers complain of not even having proper arrangements for drinking water and clean washrooms

It is not easy being an evaluator, spending seven hours on the same six-inch wide benches on which students sit, and not even having an actual lunch break.

Seated on these same benches, teachers often complain of developing back and knee aches. (HT File Photo)

It has been two years since an hour-long lunch break was stipulated for evaluators but it continues to remain on paper, for in reality, there is no such thing as a specific lunch break.

Seated on student benches throughout the day, for over a fortnight, often leaves them with a back and knee ache. At some centres teachers complain of not even having proper arrangements for drinking water and clean washrooms.

UP Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh spokesperson, RP Mishra questioned that when teachers are working hard for the students throughout the day the least they can ask for are proper facilities, he said.

“In 1975, director Shyam Narayan Mehrotra started central evaluations and the conditions for evaluation were set to provide a well-lit environment, cane chair, a table, a fan and clean washroom and watercooler. Our Board is not able to fulfill the basic demands even after 50 years since the beginning of central evaluation.

“Secretary Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad in the 1980s, Prabha Tripathi, also tried calculating the cost of getting chairs and tables for the evaluation process which turned out to be ₹75 lakh, but it could not be allocated due to her sudden demise,” said Mishra.

A teacher engaged in the evaluation process at a centre in Gomti Nagar, said that instead of a proper lunch break, teachers tend to finish their lunch any time they are free. “Every room has about four groups - each consisting of 10 teachers and two heads. No stationery is provided for checking examination papers, which is an additional burden on teachers,” the teacher said.

Another teacher said that this year, the logo printed on the answer booklets are too dark making it difficult to read and check. “The logo is too dark making it difficult to read the answers while evaluating. The caging sheet on which the marks for each question are to be fed, this year, has been provided on the inside cover, instead of the cover page of the answer booklet, making the process time-taking,” she said.

“If we are asking for proper chairs and tables, clean drinking water and washroom facilities it is the least that the Board can provide. By the end of the day, it becomes really tiring completing the evaluation work,” another teacher said.