The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education has informed heads of government and aided schools that teachers cannot be granted exemption from higher secondary answer script evaluation duties this year due to a severe shortage of teachers at the secondary and higher secondary levels.
In a letter sent to the institutions, the council said that the number of teachers in the state is very low vis-à-vis the actual number of students appearing in the examinations, making it necessary to engage all available teachers in the evaluation process.
"You are aware of the fact that, in our state, at the secondary and higher secondary levels, the strength of teachers is critically low compared to the number of students. Therefore, the council can't exempt any teacher from script evaluation duty," the council said in a communication to the head masters on Monday.
The letter further noted that requests to exempt someone from the evaluation responsibilities would generally not be approved, a council official said Tuesday.
The semester-based higher secondary examinations concluded on February 27.
Students who had failed to clear the third semester examinations held in September appeared for supplementary tests along with the fourth semester examinations during the period February 12-February 27.
Additionally, the final batch of candidates who had failed the Higher Secondary examination under the earlier annual system last year also sat for the tests in February.
According to a council official, nearly 7.5 lakh students appeared for the examinations this year, resulting in a massive number of answer scripts that require evaluation.
Earlier, the council had also engaged primary school teachers as invigilators during the Class XII board examinations to address the shortage of higher secondary-level teachers.
The recruitment of 12,514 teachers at the Class 12 level has to be completed by the West Bengal Central School Service Commission by August 31 in compliance with a directive of the Supreme Court of India.
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