UP Board exam evaluation to start on Tuesday, teachers strongly oppose decision 

The evaluation of answer sheets of the Uttar Pradesh Board examinations for classes 10 and 12, will finally begin from Tuesday. The Board Secretary Neena Srivastava said that the evaluation process of answer sheets would last 20 days at various centres, while observing social distancing norms.

The evaluation of answer sheets was stopped during the lockdown period and the official said that any further postponement would inordinately delay the announcement of results. However, the decision has been strongly opposed by the UP-Board teachers.

The UP Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh General Secretary Lal Mani Dwivedi said, "The decision to start evaluation of answer sheets from May 5 is impractical. The authorities have ignored the prevailing situation due to the corona pandemic. It is unsafe for teachers to step out of their homes right now. When the government initially postponed evaluation, there were just 112 novel coronavirus cases reported across the country and only 13 in the state. However, now there are around 2,300 novel coronavirus cases in the state."

He said that the association would again take up the issue with the concerned officials. "The board should allow teachers to start evaluation of copies from their homes, as was the earlier practice, or wait for the lockdown period to end," he stated. Around 56 lakh students had appeared for their high school and/or intermediate examinations, held in March this year in the state.

Over five crore answer sheets pertaining to these examinations have to be evaluated for which the work is likely to end by May 25 and the results are to be declared soon thereafter so that students do not miss their academic sessions.

The Board of High School and Intermediate Education Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, commonly known as the UP Board, conducts examinations for Class 10 and 12 and is considered the biggest board for high school and intermediate level examinations in Asia in terms of the number of students appearing every year. At present there are more than 22,000 secondary schools recognised by the board and it conducts the examinations and prepares results of nearly 64 lakh students.