COIMBATORE: Teacher associations in Coimbatore have objected to the pasting of a memo in front of the house of a postgraduate teacher facing disciplinary action over alleged improper scrutiny of the answer script for half yearly examination.
The headmistress of the government higher secondary school at Sholayar Dam at Valparai herself affixed the memo seeking an explanation after the teacher, R Vijayalakshmi, reportedly did not reply to the first one served to her.
The school education department as well as teachers' unions demanded the Chief Educational Officer to intervene. They also wanted the authorities from resorting to such demeaning action in the future.
Vijayalakshmi told TNIE, "The headmistress issued a memo to me due to personal vendetta. However, I could not reply to the memo as I was on medical leave. Meanwhile, the headmistress along with the teachers came to my house and pasted the second memo at my door. My personal privacy has been violated."
Vijayalakshmi denied the headmistress' allegations and said she evaluated the answer script properly. When asked about it, headmistress G Logambal told TNIE that she did not evaluate students' answer scripts of biology and she gave more marks to students.
"So, I issued a memo seeking an explanation. However, the teacher did not reply. She refused to receive a second memo from me. So, as per the norm, I pasted the second memo at her house. There is no violation of rules," Logambal said.
"In case she had committed mistakes, the headmistress could have taken action through the higher officer. Sticking memo on the door affects teachers personally. This is not the way to deal with the issue," Arulanandham said.
He urged the Chief Educational Officer to stop such practice. Chief Educational Officer R Balamurali told TNIE that he would look into the issue and added that the District Educational Officer is already inquiring into this matter.
And also the kind of step back and allow me to get back in to touch with recent research which was going on. And so I was fortunate to get a scholarship from the Ravi Shankaran INLAKS fellowship programme that was again set up that year and so I got a full scholarship to go to Cambridge and it was a one year course and it was an excellent course in terms of also giving us the ability to critique conservation in the way it was being done. You know, it was also the first time I had to write essays, that was a bit challenging for me, you know, our education system is so different in terms of examination, you know, very unidirectional kind of teaching. This is the first time I was exposed to, you know, a space where we could question our teachers and have discussions and group discussions and critique and, you know, you had to do a lot of self-learning, there was library access with any book or journal that you wanted access to, so it was intense but it was extremely useful for me I think at that point in my career to get into that course.
Lalitha Krishnan: On a more serious note, how do you persuade teachers to incorporate your nature learning curriculum and use your outreach material into their existing programme or plan?
Vena Kapoor: Again WIPRO has a huge network of organizations and educators that they work with and support and so we try and work with some of them because they have access to schools in different parts of India and they are embedded within that school system.
Lalitha Krishnan: And this proposed airport also, if constructed will be close to the Song river. The implications of this for the river, for wildlife for all life around it, would be quite huge.
Abhijay Negi: We are alert and prepared for any eventuality. If we get to know that they are actually getting on the ground with any tree felling our 100s of volunteers will be rushing there and stopping it be so physically. The second thing is we are preparing legally for all the steps we have to take. So far, we are still waiting to hear from the National Wildlife Board. We are trusting our institutions and we hope that the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board specifically will play a role here. (It) will step up to save the biodiversity of the area that the government is so eagerly willing to put on the axe. We are also working with other like-minded organisations since this is genuinely a city effort. Several organisations are up in arms against it and we are coordinating with each one of them. At the same time, we are also working to get into a dialogue with this government. We plan to call upon the relevant bureaucrats, relevant ministers, if possible, even the chief minister to put forward our point of view and to request them to roll it back. So, we will do everything in our power.
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Ramya Jose (41) was addressing the students of Plus Two science classes at her school. She collapsed at 1 pm on Monday, in the middle of her speech. However, immediately taken to the nearby Devamatha Hospital by colleagues, Ramya was declared brought dead.
"Lastly, I want to convey this to you: from now on, you will have to make decisions. There will not be anyone looking to correct you. The responsibility is on you to discern right and wrong. In your life, do not bring tears to your parents or teachers", these were the final words of Ramya to her students.
The body was shifted to the Thrissur Medical College and will be placed for the public to pay homage at the school at 1 pm on Tuesday. Subsequently, the funeral rites will be performed at the St Gervasis and Prothasis Church at Akaparambu, Nedumbassery at 5 pm.
Ramya served as the maths teacher in the Higher Secondary section of Little Flower School since 2012. She is the daughter of Maradu Chowattukunnel Jose, a High Court lawyer and Mary. She is survived by her husband Finob and children Neha and Nora.
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