Bhopal: Various student organisations in Madhya Pradesh disagree with Education Minister Archana Chitnis and secondary education board chairperson Snehlata Shrivastava that the polls only were responsible for the poor pass percentage in this year's high school examinations.

Soon after the declaration of results, with the pass percentage declining to 35.33 against last year's 57.89, Chitnis and Shrivastava attributed the engagement of teachers in election work as one of the main reasons behind the students' poor show.

However, the various organisations cite the late availability of textbooks when the academic session started, failure of the department in ensuring training of teachers as per the changed syllabus, lack of adequate number of permanent teachers at the schools and above all, curtailment of 2008-09 session by over a month in a bid to start the new session (2009-10) in time.

"The state government spoiled the students' career by making attempts to declare the results in a record time. Teachers engaged on contract basis cannot do justice to teaching as compared to teaching by trained teachers. The answer sheets should be re-evaluated," demanded National Students of India (NSUI) state unit chief Rashmi Pawar.

Ashasakiya Vidyalaya Sangathan (Private Schools Association) president Surendra Singh Baghel also said that the poor results were due to changes in pattern of language papers like English and Sanskrit with the result that the students in rural areas for whom Mathematics and Science were already tough subjects, faced yet another difficulty.

Even the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (AVBP), affiliated to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), blames the government. "Elections alone can not be blamed. In fact, decline in standard of teaching is one of the major reasons behind the poor results," ABVP general secretary Vishnu Dutt Sharma said.

The minister has ordered a probe to find out the reasons for the poor performance.

"I have already constituted a committee to look into each and every detail like distribution of books, completion of course, availability and training of teachers, syllabus, students attendance etc. to find out the reasons behind poor result and give a solution," she said. IANS