Matric Evaluation: Odisha Govt To Follow HC Directive On Teachers’ Travel

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will strictly follow the Orissa High Court directive regarding the teachers travelling to evaluation centres for checking the annual Matric examination papers, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said on Saturday.

The minister informed that the teachers coming from 10 km or more to the evaluation centre will be identified and efforts will be made for them to evaluate the papers within 10 km radius of their homes. Also, the number of evaluation centres will be increased, if necessary.

“A decision to this effect will be taken at a meeting on Monday,” he added.

The evaluation will begin at 60 centres from May 20.

On Friday, an HC bench of Justice Biswanath Rath had directed the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Board of Secondary Education and School & Mass Education Department to make necessary arrangements for food and accommodation for the teachers who have to travel 10 km or more to the evaluation centres.

Apart from this, the court also directed the state government to take all possible steps to allay the apprehension of the teachers if the Centre issues fresh social distancing guidelines for the fourth-phase of the lockdown.

The court directive came in response to two petitions filed by the Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association (OSSTA) and Madhusudan Dey,

The petitioners had contended that as most of the teachers have to travel more than 100 km every day to their respective evaluation centres, they will face insurmountable difficulty in the absence of passenger transport.

Moreover, not all teachers will be able to go to their centres on their personal vehicle as they do not have driving experience. Besides, these teachers will face food and accommodation problems.

Taking note of these problems, the petitioners had appealed to the court to direct the government to ensure the security of these teachers on priority basis either by allowing them to evaluate the papers in their homes or increase the number of evaluation centres in areas nearby their homes.

Also Read: OSSTA Seeks Rs 50 Lakh Insurance Cover For Teachers Engaged In Matric Evaluation