OSSTA threatens non-cooperation

CUTTACK: The theft of question papers at an examination centre leading to the scrapping of the high School Certificate (HSC) examinations has blown up to a full-fledged war between the teachers fraternity and the Board of Secondary Education (BSE). The Orissa Secondary School Teachers Association (OSSTA) on Thursday warned of non-cooperation with the BSE if the suspension of the centre superintendent and headmaster of the Bagabati Bidyapith at Bajapur under Kakatpur of Puri district Umakanta Barik along with the deputy superintendent and two other staffers was not lifted immediately. The threat comes even as the BSE authorities are struggling to fix the new schedule of the matriculation examinations at the earliest date. The teachers’ association stated that the theft was more a result of lack of infrastructure in the examination centres for safekeeping of vital documents as the question papers than the negligence of the superintendent and the staff. The question papers were kept in the steel almirahs in the headmasters offices as no safe or iron chest was provided to the centres. The schools, mostly being dilapidated, were easily vulnerable to such break-ins. Further, when no police security was being provided to the centres during the examination, the heads of the institutions could not be held responsible for thefts and other incidents, OSSTA general secretary Raghunath Sahoo said on Thursday.BOARD DENIES CHARGES: The Board, however, refuted the charges saying that all the district collectors and the SPs had been asked by the School and Mass Education Department to extend security to the examination centres before and during the examinations. At the local level, the centre superintendents were required to requisition the local police station for security arrangements. But here it was not done, BSE secretary NR Mohapatra said. There is definite lapse on the part of the centre head and staff to ensure security of the question papers. In the event, police failed to respond to the security requests, centre heads have been making their own arrangements by deputing staff at the school itself for overnight stay to thwart theft attempts. But not in this case, BSE President Prof. Satyakam Mishra said.