1234 Kolkata: A day after filing the review petition in the Supreme Court, the state lawyers on Tuesday mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna the need for an urgent hearing, if possible, on Wednesday. The Bengal Secondary Education Board filed a review plea in the apex court on Monday, seeking a breather for the ‘untainted' school staff to continue "until the end of the academic year or until the process for fresh appointments is concluded, whichever is earlier", to pause the "devastating impact" of the mass terminations of 25,752 school staff in Bengal.
According to sources in the board, the SC did not specify any timeframe to hear the review plea but indicated it would examine it. Lawyers representing the state did not want to comment on the developments. The board also officially declined to comment. However, sources indicated they were hopeful of an early hearing after the Supreme Court examines the broader issue of the impact of the immediate mass terminations in Bengal schools.
The board, in its plea, stated that the present student-teacher ratio in state high schools is 52:1, against the central norm of 30:1, and immediate mass terminations will increase the gap to 58:1, with many schools losing their science and language subject teachers midway through their academic year. However, the board has made it clear that it was seeking the breather for candidates "not found to be tainted". tnn