Odisha orders suspension of 'absentee' teachers in Plus-II paper evaluation

Bhubaneswar: Amid protests and boycott of evaluation of Plus-II answer sheets by teachers, Odisha government today ordered immediate suspension of 'non-reporting and absentee' examiners appointed for evaluation duty.

The Directorate of Higher Education, in a directive to the governing authorities of all the non-government aided colleges in the State, stated that a teacher assigned with evaluation work 'shall not refuse, save under circumstances beyond his control to perform the work or duties so assigned.'

It also directed to take exemplary disciplinary action against such non-reporting teachers.

The teachers have been agitating since March 19 demanding issuance of a notification regarding withdrawal of the affidavit clause prescribed in the Grant-in-Aid (GIA) Policy-2017 along with fulfillment of six other demands.

As many as 5,800 teachers were asked to join the ongoing evaluation process this year but around 50 per cent of them have not joined duty due to the ongoing stir by Block Grant, 488 category and 662 category teachers.

Left with no choice, the Council has appointed degree college lecturers and retired professors to evaluate the answer sheets in place of the absentee teachers.