Even as the State Government is adopting a host of measures for fair conduct of examinations and faultless evaluation of papers, it has long neglected on the front of hiking invigilation fee of the teachers and staff engaged in halls.
Whether it is Matric, Plus II or Degree examinations, the invigilator’s fees have not been revised for long. As the examinations are conducted in the hot summer and each sitting of three hours make it quite grueling due to absence of basic infrastructure like cold water and fans in most schools and colleges, the teachers and staff members assigned examination duty face the real hardship. Yet, paltry remuneration for invigilation and no revision in it for long years have discouraged the staff members and it is also one of the factors that affecting fair conduct of examinations.
Sources said the remuneration from HSC to Degree level examinations ranges between Rs15 and Rs30 for a three-hour sitting. The Board of Secondary Examination (BSE), Council of Higher Secondary Examination (CHSE) and the State universities have not revised the remuneration fee for long years despite the fact that everybody feels a need to hike it given the arduous task involved in invigilation duty. And, this is when the State Government is exploring all possibilities to adopt techniques for foolproof conduct of examinations and evaluation.
It may be noted that the Higher Education Department plans to spend Rs5 crore for outsourcing a firm to digitize answer scripts for e-evaluation this year. This is just the tip of an iceberg as the Government is not averse to make big budgets on various other pleas concerning the examinations when the basic problems at the ground level remain unaddressed.
“The Government needs to revise the invigilation remuneration as a measly sum for it is a discouraging factor. The minimum sum of money for invigilation for a three -hour sitting should be Rs100,” said a school teacher.