New Delhi: The Government Schools Teachers' Association (GSTA) has urged Delhi education minister Ashish Sood to withdraw show-cause notices issued to teachers over the drop in the CBSE Class 12 Board marks pass percentage.
In a letter, the association attributed the drop to shortcomings in the newly introduced On Screen Marking (OSM) system, which it said was implemented this year without adequate preparation and practical assessment.
The association claimed it had earlier suggested introducing the system on a pilot basis initially and expanding it only after assessing its feasibility and results.
According to the letter, teachers and evaluators faced several technical and practical difficulties during the evaluation process, including blurred scanned answer sheets, incorrect upload of answer booklets, missing pages and problems in reading scripts due to poor handwriting.
GSTA said these issues led evaluators to adopt "excessive caution" while marking answer sheets, which allegedly resulted in stricter evaluation in many cases.
It also said after the Class 12 results, many students and parents complained that marks were lower than expected, while several students faced difficulties during the re-evaluation process.
Referring to a decline in overall CBSE Class 12 results at the national level this year, GSTA said teachers should not be held solely responsible for the outcome.
The association alleged that several teachers were issued show-cause notices and memorandums and were also threatened with adverse remarks in their Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs), creating stress among the teaching community.
GSTA general secretary Ajay Veer Yadav said teachers continuously monitor students' academic performance through remedial classes, extra classes and parent-teacher interactions, but results ultimately depend on individual students' performance.
The association requested the education minister to treat all notices and memorandums issued to teachers regarding the Class 12 results as "null and void" and called for a supportive environment to help teachers improve future academic performance.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.