South City teachers quit en masse

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, June 21, 2007
ALL 30 teachers of Heramba Chandra College, popularly known as South City Day College, resigned on Thursday, putting a question mark on the BA and BSc Part-II examinations on Friday.
The mass resignation followed a gherao by the SFI-ruled union. The agitating students were alleging foul play in the admission procedure, which has gone online from this year. The teachers, on the other hand, said the SFI was upset because it could no longer push undeserving students for admission.
The college had put up a list of selected candidates on Tuesday and admission was scheduled to begin on Thursday. Because of the gherao, however, over 300 students went back without taking admission.
“Our objective was to prevent admission without transparency. The admission board has no student representative and is taking decisions against the interests of deserving students," said Indrajit Ghosh, the SFI’s Kolkata president.
Teachers, however, said the union was represented on the committee. “Their problem is that this online system does not allow them to push their own candidates,” said S. Biswas, a teacher.
“Disgusted with the ghearo, all 30 teachers submitted their resignations to me in the evening. I too am a teacher and share their views,” principal Khogen Adhikari said.
The resignation makes Friday’s examination uncertain for 791 Part-II students. “After the gruelling gherao, our teachers will not be able to take exam duty. We have asked the university to change the venue or make other arrangements,” the principal said.
Calcutta University’s deputy controller of exams, Debashish Biswas, hoped that the exam venue would not have to be changed.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com