Plus II exam from March 1

--Dept to conduct exam despite teachers’ stir

BHUBANESWAR: Despite Block Grant College teachers strike and call for boycott the Plus II examination, scheduled to start on March 1, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) authorities would conduct the examination with alternative arrangement by using officials of the district administration.

Notably, more than 8,000 block grant college teachers of 488 and 662 categories of block grant colleges are on the strike demanding 100 per cent grants-in-aid abolishing the block grant system. The teachers boycott the examination protesting the Government apathy. “Our protest will continue till our demands are fulfilled,” said working president of Block Grant Teachers association Priya Ranjan Rath.   

When the discussion in between the Department of Higher Education and the teachers failed, the department went for alternative arrangements. With the active supervision of Sub-Collector, BDO and Tehsildar, officials of different Government departments and ME school teachers would be engaged as invigilators for the examination, sources said.    

“We have alternative arrangements for the examination. We have informed the district administration for reposition of invigilators in the examination centers to conduct the examination smoothly,” said CHSE vice-president Girija Shankar Acharya.

This year around 2.8 lakh students from 1,295 colleges would appear in annual examination in science, arts, commerce and vocational streams at 1,069 centres across the State.