Assessments of HSC answer sheets begins following teachers’ withdrawal from strike
Assessments of HSC answer sheets begins following teachers' withdrawal from strike
Following discussions with school education minister Deepak Kesarkar, junior college teachers in Maharashtra called off their four-day boycott of the assessments of the ongoing higher secondary certificate (HSC, std XII) answer sheets on Sunday.
After meeting with representatives of the Maharashtra Junior College Teachers’ Federation and the education department, Kesarkar granted one of the fifteen demands put forth by the teachers: the reinstatement of the previous pension plan for government school teachers, on par with that of state government employees.
According to Kesarkar, decisions regarding a few of the association’s other demands are still pending and will be addressed over time. In Maharashtra, over 15 lakh students have registered for this year’s HSC exams.
Shortly after the meeting with Kesarkar, education secretary Ranjitsinh Deol, commissioner of education Suraj Mandhare, and others, the president of the federation declared the end of the strike.
According to Shinde, it was decided that the directives given to employees by the Maharashtra government would also apply to teachers in regards to the implementation of the previous pension plan for junior college instructors. For those who enlisted after the November 1, 2005 advertisement, the way is now clear to use the previous pension plan.
The government is in favour of applying the old pension plan to those who joined the service after November 1, 2005, according to a statement released by the federation. The decision will be made soon, and teachers will receive the same benefits as state government employees, the statement added.
Amidst various deliberations, it was also determined that the mistakes pertaining to the outstanding raises for 253 educators were fixed, and their new orders would be sent out shortly.
According to Shinde, the pay scale for recognized IT teachers was still pending, and in 60 days, it was decided to place recognized teachers in open positions based on their educational backgrounds.
