Attendance must for SSLC evaluators

The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) has for the first time made attendance compulsory for teachers who have been enrolled as evaluators for SSLC answerscripts. 

The move aims to check the delay in the announcement of results every year due to many evaluators absenting themselves or resorting to sudden strikes and the resultant stress on the students.

Evaluators are selected by schools and the list of names is forwarded to the Board, after which they are required to make themselves available for the evaluation.
This rule was regularly flouted as many failed to turn up without citing any reason, according to H K Manjunath, President of the Karnataka State High School Assistant Masters’ Association (KSHSAMA). “There was no rule on attendance before and the penalties were negligible,” he said.

KSEEB Director Venkateshaiah told Deccan Herald: “Absence of nearly 30 per cent of the evaluators is a regular problem, causing great inconvenience. This year though, evaluation will be like the election process where attendance is a must. If anyone has registered, he/she will have to be compulsorily present,” Venkateshaiah said.

In case, absence is unavoidable (due to an health problem or other reasons), permission needs to be taken from the district authorities, failing which strict action like suspension will be taken against the evaluator.

Manjunath said: “Although the norm is to correct 22 papers per day, we have been often burdened with more papers as many candidates do not turn up.” However, Venkateshaiah said that the evaluators would this year not be burdened with more than the prescribed number.

“The requirement will be 26 second and third language papers and 20 core subjects per day per evaluator just like in previous years,” he said.

The Board is considering a few changes in the functioning of the sitting squads.
“The inter-division squad introduced last year will now become inter-district. Many members had complained that monitoring takes too long under the inter-division system. As a result, now a squad from Gulbarga can be sent to Yadgir, for example,” a senior official said.