What’s the guarantee that the new recruitment will be fair, ask West Bengal’s teachers

Protesting teachers in West Bengal question fairness of new selection process after losing jobs due to fraud accusations.

The protesting teachers of West Bengal, who recently lost their jobs over a ‘vitiated and tainted’ selection process, have questioned whether fresh recruitments would remain free of fraud, after the West Bengal government issued notifications for a new selection test.

Despite certain relaxations specifically for the teachers who lost their jobs after a Supreme Court order on April 3, the teachers have stayed firm on their demand for their exemption from the new selection process.

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The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) and the School Education Department of the West Bengal government published gazette notifications on May 30 for fresh appointments of assistant teachers in upper primary, secondary and higher secondary classes in State-run and State-aided schools. 

This followed a Supreme Court order directing the West Bengal government to complete fresh recruitments by the end of this year, after nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff appointments were cancelled by the top court over widespread fraud in the 2016 hiring process.

In the gazette notifications for this year’s State Level Selection Test (SLST), the WBSSC and Education department have given an age relaxation for the ‘sacked’ teachers, as per the Supreme Court directive. The usual age limit is a minimum of 21 years and a maximum of 40 years as on January 1, 2025.

Moreover, additional marks are being offered for prior teaching experience and lecture demonstration. While the written examination carries a weightage of 60 marks, an additional weightage of 10 marks each has been given to prior teaching experience and lecture demonstration, for candidates of classes 9 to 12.