The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) is now preparing new recruitment rules, based on transparency, for assistant teachers in classes 9 to 12 in state-run schools in the wake of the recent Supreme Court order that invalidated the appointment of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff recruited in 2016.
Sources stated that the updated rules will include issuing carbon copies of OMR sheets to candidates, and a detailed merit list will be published displaying individual marks. Although a draft of these rules was prepared in 2022, it was never finalised.
Following the apex court’s recent order, the WBSSC has begun to update the draft, and the revised proposal will be sent for approval to the State Education Department.
Meanwhile, state Education Minister Bratya Basu has announced that the SSC is likely to upload on Monday a list identifying terminated teaching and non-teaching staff as either “tainted” or “not tainted”. On Friday, Basu told media persons, “We had said earlier that we could come out with a list on April 21. We are working on that.” As per sources, the SSC will upload the list once the department authorises it.
More than 17,000 teachers who got relief from the apex court’s judgment are now anxiously waiting for the list to be published and to learn their status. Sources in the education department have said that their legal teams are thoroughly examining both Supreme Court orders — from April 3 and April 17 — before taking any final decision.
On April 3, the court ordered the termination of all 25,753 teaching and non-teaching employees, declaring the entire recruitment process null and void. Then, on April 17, in response to an appeal by the state Secondary Education Board, the court allowed ‘untainted’ teachers to return to work to minimise disruption to students’ education.
The Supreme Court has allowed teachers recruited in 2016 who were not found to be involved in any irregularities to continue working until December 31, 2025. However, it has also directed the state government to issue a fresh recruitment advertisement by May 31 and complete the recruitment process by December 31.
Many are questioning what will happen to their jobs after December 31 and if they will have to appear for the exams again. Nirmal Majhi, a teacher at Hasnabad, said, “We have a job till December 31. At this age, where will I go after that? What about my wife, what will she do? She is a homemaker, but now what is the situation of that home?”