The union's decision will be conveyed to junior college teachers at a meeting tomorrow, Singh said, adding that teachers will go slow on assessment till the March 15 deadline.

The Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers' Organisations (MFJCTO), the umbrella body governing teachers' unions, will be taking a decision on assessment for the entire state on March 15, said M R Andhalkar, MFJCTO vice-president. The teachers' three-day hunger strike at Azad Maidan ended today, with no visible results.

The state government, on its part, is readying itself to tackle the boycott. Education Minister Sudhir Joshi, who emphatically said the matter was now out of purview of the education department and would be decided by the chief minister, maintained that the government was ready to face thefallout of any boycott of assessment by the teachers.

``A meeting of education officers was held on Tuesday to discuss the alternative arrangements to be made,'' the minister said, adding that a decision on this would be taken in a couple of days. The meeting was attended by the school education secretary and the chairman of the Mumbai division of the HSC Board, among others.

Meanwhile, members of the MFJCTO said that teachers -- who have started receiving the arts and commerce papers -- are already going slow on assessment. Teachers also claimed that the results will be delayed by over a month and that the quality of assessment will suffer if degree college teachers are made to undertake valuation.

However, Joshi asserted the government would see to it that assessment does not suffer. Besides, competent people can be found to correct the papers even if junior college teachers refuse examinership, the minister felt.