Protests at examination valuation camps are against students’ interests, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said. The Minister, in a statement on Tuesday, said teachers should take part in valuation camps with equanimity for they would be evaluating efforts of lakhs of students. Hence, teachers should desist from activities that disturb the functioning of the camps.

There were other venues and means to stage protests. The protest was organised by a section of higher secondary teachers and without even a notice. Teachers should introspect how much such protests would harm the students, the Minister said.

Teachers’ stance

However, the Federation of Higher Secondary Teachers’ Associations that had organised the protests in the valuation camps on Monday said a notice of the protest had been given to the Minister on March 28. They had demanded that the apprehensions of higher secondary teachers be addressed so that they would not have to resort to agitations. However, the Minister’s personal secretary had said that the merger of high school and higher secondary sections was a policy matter and there was no going back on it.

The teachers had protested for 15 minutes from 10 a.m. without disrupting the valuation in any way, the federation said, warning of strong protests if the merger decision was not rolled back.