On footpath instead of in classroom, teachers sit outside SSC office with heavy heart
Telegraph | 12 April 2025
Alternating between rage and despair, aggrieved teachers and staff of government-aided schools continued to sit outside the school service commission office in Salt Lake on Thursday.
When the sun became too scorching, they shifted to the other side of the road. Some had stayed overnight, others joined during the day. Metro spoke to four teachers, one of whom is on hunger strike.
Seuli Batyabal
Seuli Batyabal, who taught biology to Classes IX and X in a government-aided school in Memari, East Burdwan, said she had been stripped of “the pride of being a teacher”.
Early on Thursday, the postgraduate in botany who also has a doctorate, travelled from Burdwan to Salt Lake to sit on the footpath through the day.
“I was proud that I had secured a job in a government-aided institution on merit. I took a test and was successful. Nobody lobbied for me and I did not need anyone’s help. But that pride has been smashed,” said Batyabal.
She taught in two private schools for a combined period of nine years before joining a government-aided school.
“I am used to working in laboratories, not standing in the sun and raising slogans. But do I have any alternative?” she asked.
Pankaj Roy
Pankaj Roy, a master’s in political science from North Bengal University, was the first to begin a hunger strike.
The only one in his family to reach so far, Roy taught political science to Classes XI and XII in a Malda school.
His father was a driver, and his elder brother followed in his footsteps.
But Roy wanted to be in government service so it would give their family security. But it was short-lived.
“There is no security and no prestige. My parents had so much hope pinned on me but it has all been washed away.”
Roy started his hunger strike at 11.10am on Thursday.
“Its not a choice. But I am pushed against the wall. My father went through a lot to get me educated. My parents did not do so much for me to see this day,” he said.
Bappaditya Sarkar
Our mark sheets and certificates have been reduced to sheaves of paper, Bappaditya Sarkar said on Thursday. He had spent Wednesday night outside the SSC office.
“There is tension at home. My wife and parents are stressed and concerned, and it is difficult to face them.”
He chose to be out on the road all night rather than go home.
“‘Why are you not going to school?’ my seven-year-old son asks me when he sees me at home,” said Sarkar.
Sarkar taught computer science to Classes XI and XII in a North 24-Parganas school.
The only earning member has to provide for his wife, son and aging parents.
A BSc in computer science from Surendranath College, Sarkar did his MSc from Rajabazar Science College. He cleared the state-level selection test in his fourth attempt in 2016. “It takes years to get a job, but it can be taken away just like that.”
Mohua Mahajan
Mohua Mahajan has a home and a personal loan to pay off, adding up to almost ₹25,000 a month.
She took the home loan in 2022, three years after she joined as a Bengali teacher in a government-aided school in Palashi in Nadia. She taught Classes IX and X.
The personal loan was later for her father’s medical emergency. He is no more.
“Everything that I did, including taking the bank loans, was because I had a job. But now the foundation has been shaken, and I have no ground beneath my feet. All that I stare at is uncertainty,” she said.