Parents worried over exam correction as teachers work across subjects

CHENNAI: The directorate of government examinations has brushed away allegations of class 10 teachers in the state being made to mark board exam papers of other subjects. But parents and schools are not taking it so lightly.
Director of government examinations Vasundara Devi said, "Only mathematics and science teachers who handle the classes in their school have been asked to evaluate English answer scripts.This is where there is a shortage of teachers. We have sought a report from the team in this regard."
Schools say this has been going on for quite a few years now. One school correspondent said, "It's not just subject teachers who are being asked to correct language papers. A Hindi teacher was asked to evaluate history answer scripts. This teacher was knowledgeable, but there could be others who do not know anything about the subject and still evaluate the papers based on the answer key given to them. Children stand to lose because of this."
Parents too remain unconvinced about this solution to address the lack of teachers. Rashmi Dayalan, parent of a Class 10 student in a matriculation school, said, "If teachers who do not know the nuances of the subject correct the papers they will not give a student full marks for an answer even if it is right unless the student writes verbatim from the text. Then we would all have to insist on rote learning though academics are always talking about how that is not the right way to learn."
Officials in the school education department and directorate of government examinations say that the only way to address the issue is for schools managements to send their best teachers for evaluation.
R J Bhuvanesh, CEO of Kaligi Ranganathan Montfort Matriculation Higher Secondary School, said, "By September or October the inspector of matriculation schools collects a list of teachers handling each subject. Later they call teachers for evaluation. Schools should send all the teachers for this duty. Maybe 2% or 3% have valid excuses, but many others simply produce a medical certificate saying that they are ill and ask to be excused. Until this practice stops, the government will have no choice but to adopt such techniques."