Withhold pre-univ results till CET, NEET exams: DPUE

Some good news for students appearing for II PU exams in March/April 2020 as the Department of Pre-university Education is mulling to withhold the results till the completion of Common Entrance Test (CET) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Considering the tremendous stress that students preparing for both the PUC and the competitive examinations undergo, the department is thinking of not to announce the PUC results until the completion of NEET and CET examinations.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar gave it a thought after he received a call from a teacher-cum-parent during a phone-in ‘Samvedana’ on Saturday.

The teacher called and requested the minister not to announce II PU results before the completion of NEET and CET examinations.

The reasons given by the teacher were valid and appreciated by the minister. After answering the call Suresh Kumar said, “We need to think about it seriously as students are going into depression if they score less marks in PU exams and it demotivates them from appearing for competitive examinations. I will discuss this with department officials and take appropriate action on the same.”

In a first of its kind, Education Minister Suresh Kumar spoke to a total of 38 people, mostly teachers, during the phone-in.

There were questions about lack of infrastructure, shortage of teachers, lack of playgrounds, delay in recruitment of physical education teachers, request to increase remuneration of guest teachers, single teacher issues, seeking relief from election work among others.

The minister gave a patient hearing to the issues raised by the callers and assurred them of appropriate action.

The minister, however, was unhappy over no calls from students. “I was expecting calls from students and also from parents. I think we need to change the timings next time so that students can connect after their school hours,” he added.

15 days CLs sought

A female teacher requested the minister to increase the number of Casual Leaves (CL) for teachers. Currently teachers are getting 10 CLs. The caller explained to Suresh Kumar why teachers need leaves and requested him to rollback to the earlier leave system of 15 CLs.

Responding positively, minister said, “This is a genuine problem and even teachers’ associations have submitted representation to me. Need to discuss with Finance and Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department on it.”