Bhubaneswar: School authorities in seven blocks of Bargarh district have been served show cause notice over poor performance by students in the annual High School Certificate (HSC) examinations this year.
The explanations have been sought from schools that have recorded less than 60 pass percentage.
Similar notices have been sent to other schools across the State, said reports.
The poor pass percentage of schools in the HSC examinations conducted by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) has led to plummeting of the state average by 9 percent as compared to last year, said reports.
"Explain the reason and circumstances that led to such miserable performance by the school," the notice read.
"Considering the result which is far below the state's pass average of 76.23, why should such poor performance not be considered as negligence in duty on the part of the teaching staff.," the letter read.
The notice has also asked why salary of the teaching staff of these schools should not be held up for such poor performance by students.
“The move is aimed at improving the pass percentage in coming years. Those 31 schools which have registered lower than 60 percent results have been given show cause notices. Their salaries have been held back for now but will be released soon after they take proactive steps to ensure quality education in their respective schools," Prakash Kumar Joshi, DEO Bargarh said.
The teachers have been asked to prepare an action plan to better the results next year and to submit their replies by June 12.
This year as many as 36 schools have registered nil results. The state average pass percentage has recorded below 80 per cent - first time in last five years.
Meanwhile, terming the move of the state government as unfair, the Odisha Secondary School Teachers Association (OSTA) said that the government should first look into filing up vacancies in schools.
Prakash Mohanty, OSTA general secretary said “If a school does not have sufficient supporting staff, it means that the educational system there is flawed. Does it mean that the teaching personnel there should resign? Salaries should not be linked to the performance of students.”