Bratya hints at increase in teacher vacancies after discussion with Mamata Banerjee
Telegraph | 18 November 2025
Education minister Bratya Basu said on Monday that he had held a “preliminary discussion” with chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the possibility of increasing the number of vacancies in teaching posts at the secondary and higher secondary levels of government-aided schools, for which recruitment tests were conducted in September.
Basu made the comment after learning that many fresh applicants for the higher secondary level posts had not been called for interviews despite securing perfect scores — 60 out of 60 in the written test and 10 out of 10 for academic qualifications.
The school service commission (SSC) has drawn up the interview list based on three components: written test scores, academic qualifications, and teaching experience. The last category — carrying 10 marks — applies only to in-service teachers who took the test. This has triggered protests from fresh candidates who fear being elbowed out by those with prior service.
On Monday, many of these fresh applicants staged an agitation outside the SSC office after discovering that their names were missing from the interview list.
Asked about the protests, Basu said: “Definitely, I did have a preliminary discussion with the chief minister about raising the number of vacant seats. Nothing has been finalised. This will also have to be considered by the state cabinet. Until we receive a legal opinion, I cannot say anything formally.”
The minister stressed that the ongoing recruitment process must be allowed to reach its conclusion. “Then we will examine whether deserving candidates have been left out. We do not know that as yet. The results of Classes IX and X — the secondary-level tests — are still pending. Once the whole recruitment process is over, if we find that deserving candidates have been left out, we will be sympathetic. I discussed increasing the vacancy figure with the chief minister, but nothing is certain at this stage,” Basu told reporters at Bikash Bhavan, the education secretariat.
An education department official said the state government is also considering increasing vacancies for in-service teachers who have not yet been called for interviews.
The selection tests for secondary and higher secondary levels were held on September 7 and 14. The results and interview lists for higher secondary teachers were published on November 7 and 15.Currently, 12,454 posts are vacant at the HS level, while 23,514 vacancies exist at the secondary level.
Aspirants’ protest
Protesting candidates questioned how they could ever secure jobs if even full scores in the written exam and academic categories did not earn them interview calls.
“The recruitment tests were held after more than nine years. But now that they have finally been held, they offer no hope for us. In-service teachers got interview calls because they benefited from the marks allotted for teaching experience,” a protester said.
The protest by fresh teaching job aspirants in front of Bikash Bhavan continued late into Monday. Police were seen trying to disperse the crowd that had assembled outside Bikash Bhavan.
The in-service candidates include 15,403 teachers whose appointments were cancelled by the Supreme Court on April 3, but who were allowed to continue drawing salaries until December and asked to take the fresh selection tests to retain their jobs.
The frustration among job-seekers also reflects the grim employment landscape in an industry-starved state. The situation was no different under the Left. A government-aided school headmaster said: “The only difference is that during the Left’s tenure, teacher tests were held once a year. The Trinamool government has been irregular in conducting recruitment tests.”
Swapan Mandal, secretary of the Bengal Teachers’ and Employees’ Association, said that the state government should have created more vacancies in anticipation of both fresh applicants and in-service teachers appearing together for the tests.