New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), facing flak over evaluation errors in answer scripts of Class X and Class XII board exams, has initiated action against 130 teachers in the country.

The highest number of erring teachers are from Patna, where 45 of them have been held responsible for "the gross carelessness committed by them resulting in severe hardships for the candidates and tarnishing the board's reputation," a senior board official said.

Similar action is likely to be ordered by more regional offices against schools, teachers or coordinators where evaluation errors have been found, according to the board's officials. "Letters of initiating immediate disciplinary action, including suspension, have been issued to schools by the CBSE's Dehradun office in respect of 27 identified teachers or coordinators for the gross mistakes committed by them," the official said.

He said action has also been initiated against 14 erring teachers in Chennai, 11 in Allahabad, seven in Bhubaneswar, six in Delhi, two in Guwahati and one in Trivandrum, and eight each in Ajmer and Panchkula.

"Five teachers from the Delhi region - three from government schools and two from private schools - are supposedly to be suspended. Schools concerned have been asked to take the prescribed action," he said. They have been held responsible for major mistakes in totalling of marks in the board exam papers, the official said. "The re-evaluation saw some students getting 50-55 marks more than what they had initially got when the results were declared in May this year. A detailed report is being prepared in the matter," the CBSE official said.

The CBSE had, on June 1, started the process of re-evaluation for those who had appeared for the Class X and Class XII board examinations this year. PTI

The board had declared both the results in the last week of May. However, candidates who were unsatisfied with the marks they were awarded were able to apply for the re-evaluation process. PTI