Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Mar 18: The principals and lecturers of pre-university (PU) colleges in Dakshina Kannada have decided to boycott the evaluation of second PU examination answer scripts indefinitely. The decision was taken during an emergency meeting held on Tuesday March 17 in protest against the government's move to bring the department of pre-university education under the jurisdiction of the zilla panchayat (ZP).
The special emergency meeting saw participation from the Dakshina Kannada district PU college principals' association, lecturers' association, aided PU college lecturers' association, guest lecturers' association, and various subject-wise lecturers' unions. The members unanimously resolved to stay away from evaluation work starting March 20.
Speaking at the meeting, association leaders stated that handing over the responsibility of the PU department to the zilla panchayat is an interference in the rights of PU lecturers. "This is a violation of our professional rights. All principals and lecturers must take this boycott seriously and implement it strictly. Evaluation should not be resumed until our demands are met. We must stand by the decisions taken by the state-level associations," the members resolved.
To ensure the success of the protest, coordination committees were formed for each evaluation center. The associations have also decided to seek support from various other organizations to strengthen their movement.
An office-bearer of the association informed that a memorandum had already been submitted to the government regarding various demands, primarily to drop the plan of bringing the department under the zilla panchayat. "We had already informed the government that we would boycott the evaluation starting March 20 if there was no response to our demands. Since the government has failed to react, this step has become inevitable," the member stated.
The meeting was presided over by Naveen Shetty, president of the Dakshina Kannada district PU college principals' association. Other key attendees included secretary Mamata, treasurer Adarsh Chokkadi, state principals' association secretary Jayananda Suvarna, lecturers' association president Hariprakash Bailadi, and working president Chandranath M.
Vittala A, honorary president of the district aided PU college lecturers' association, Somashekhar Nayak, president of the aided college employees' association, and Premanath Shetty, president of the school education department employees' association, were also present along with over 250 representatives.
Manjunath Revanakar, representing the Karnataka united private school and college management's association (KUPMA) and the registered un-aided private schools' association (RUPSA), and Padmaprabha Indra, president of the Karnataka state guest lecturers' association, also participated and extended their support to the decision.