Over 500 teachers protest against NIOS result anomaly

SHILLONG: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan teachers began their two-day sit-in demonstration on Tuesday in demand for immediate inquiry into the alleged anomalies in the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.EL.ED) results declared by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
As many as 500 teachers took part in the sit-in in front of the NIOS Shillong branch office and threatened that they would ensure that the NIOS signboard is removed within two weeks if the anomalies are not rectified.
The trainee teachers have demanded a written assurance from the Director of NIOS in Shillong on fulfilling their demands. They also turned down the invitation for talks sent out by DERT director and NIOS officials saying “verbal assurances” would no longer be accepted.
Speaking to reporters, MSSASA general secretary H.M Marbaniang said an inquiry should be set up to bring out the incompetency and inefficiency of NIOS.
“We will be announcing stern decisions tomorrow (Wednesday) if NIOS fails to address the grievances of the teachers,” he added.
Marbaniang said the salary hike of teachers was approved by the Project Approval Board and the delay in rectifying the anomalies has affected them. “We don’t want such harassment to be repeated, especially when training for another 8,000 teachers have recently been approved and sanctioned by the government,” he added.
At the meeting, MSSASA leaders said it was after a delay of nine months, NIOS decided to announce the result for the first batch of 4,000 teachers appearing for the D.EL.ED training course last September.
However, the result was found to be incomplete since internal marks from study centres were not included and those who appeared in particular subjects were marked absent.
The pressure body said more than 90 per cent of the teachers were declared unsuccessful in the anomalous results.