The four-day boycott of HSC assessment answer booklets by the Maharashtra Junior College Teachers Association (MJCTA) has been called off on Sunday. The association withdrew its protest after a meeting with the school education minister, Deepak Kesarkar. The chief moderators of language papers will meet to discuss plans for assessing over 50 lakh papers. The MJCTA had boycotted the assessment from February 21, when the HSC exams began.

The association, in a statement, announced the withdrawal of the boycott and stated that one of their main demands of applying the old pension scheme to government school teachers will be addressed. The association’s general secretary, Mukund Andhalkar, said that teachers who joined the service after the November 1, 2005 advertisement for the old pension scheme was issued will stand to benefit.

The association also stated that the 283 teachers who are awaiting their appointment letters and salaries will soon be addressed. The minister promised to hold a meeting in two weeks to discuss other demands made by the association.

The answer booklets will now start arriving in colleges, and the respective examiners will be allotted packets. Each examiner will receive 25 answer booklets and will have two weeks for assessment. While the assessment was boycotted, teachers continued with their exam supervision work. The teachers had threatened to intensify their protest and involve school teachers in the boycott. However, the boycott has now been withdrawn. The SSC exams are set to begin on March 1.