With teachers refusing to be cowed down by threats of contempt of court and disciplinary action and continuing their boycott of Plus Two Chemistry valuation for the third straight day on Saturday, the General Education department seems to have softened its stance.
After denying that there were anomalies in the answer scheme provided for the valuation and blaming a section of teachers of “muddying the waters”, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty appeared to strike a conciliatory tone. In a statement issued after convening a meeting of officials of the General Education department on Saturday evening, the Minister said any shortcomings in the answer scheme published on the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education portal would be examined.
An expert committee appointed by the government will examine the answer scheme, and a final decision taken on the basis of its recommendation. It is learnt that a scrutiny had found that eight questions in the Chemistry paper had multiple answers, and hence the teachers’ arguments had merit. At the same time, a very liberal evaluation too could not be accepted, officials said.
