Kolkata: A day after the Supreme Court annulled the appointments of 25,752 teachers and staffers in state-run and state-aided schools, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) Friday declared its compliance with the Supreme Court directive. The body would conduct fresh exams of all the candidates who took part in the 2016 job recruitment test, which has now been invalidated.
WBSSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar told reporters that the commission would seek legal advice about the eligibility of candidates who can appear for the fresh exam.
“For the 2016 exam, around 26 lakh candidates filled the application, out of which 22 lakh appeared for the tests. From these, approximately 1.41 lakh candidates were aspirants for Classes 9-10 and another 1.5 lakh candidates for classes 11-12. The remaining candidates appeared for non-teaching posts.
As the Supreme Court has directed us to start a fresh selection process for filling the vacancies, a clarification is required on whether new candidates are also eligible to appear for the same exams or not,” Majumdar stated.
The chairman also noted that since the number of candidates is huge, it was unlikely to complete the selection process within three months. “We will begin the process for a fresh examination of 22 lakh candidates at the earliest. We will also coordinate with the school education department and submit our recommendation. At this stage, we cannot share further details,” he added.
After the order, as many as 12,905 teachers teaching in Classes 9 and 10 in the state will lose their jobs while the number is 5,712 for teachers for classes 11 and 12. Close to 26,000 employees who are affected by the job will be in Group C and D non-teaching categories.
The Supreme Court held the WBSSC accountable for “intentionally” concealing the lapses and irregularities in the recruitment of teachers and staffers. It also upheld the Calcutta High Court’s observations which noted 17 instances of illegalities in the selection process.
