What's the guarantee that the new recruitment will be fair, ask West Bengal's teachers
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.
Also Read | Police detain teachers protesting against Bengal government's fresh recruitment notification
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.
SC directive
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.
It is worth noting that the teachers, now on protest, were appointed in 2019, accounting for around seven years of teaching experience.
However, this has not brought any comfort to the protesting teachers. 'It is surprising that the WBSSC and the West Bengal government, which were accused of widespread fraud in the 2016 recruitments, have once again been delegated the task of carrying out fresh recruitments. What guarantee do we have that there will not be any corruption this time?' Shubhojit Das, a protesting teacher of the Jogyo Shikkhok Shikkhika Adhikar Mancha asked.
'No fair competition'
Highlighting the Supreme Court directive that allowed the 'sacked teachers' to hold their current jobs till December 31, he said that juggling work with preparations would put them at a disadvantage if they were to appear for this year's SLST.
'Even if we agreed to a re-examination, this is not a fair competition by any means. We are expected to prepare for SLST while simultaneously working and performing our existing teaching duties,' Mr. Das told The Hindu. Also the syllabus for the written examination is different from what they taught in schools.
BJP legislator Abhijit Gangopadhyay called the fresh recruitment 'discriminatory' owing to the additional marks being given for prior teaching experience.
'The government's notification was for all candidates, including those who will be appearing without any prior teaching experience. But out of the 10 marks, they will not get any marks in that segment and will fall behind in a competitive examination. This will keep happening in their following attempts… I do not understand the reason behind this discrimination,' Mr. Gangopadhyay said.
The BJP MP from West Bengal's Tamluk had ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff by the WBSSC and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in 2022, during his tenure as a Calcutta High Court judge.
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