‘Wrong vacancies’ hit SSC hiring, difficulties burden aspiring schoolteachers
Telegraph | 23 April 2026
Many aspiring schoolteachers are struggling to secure jobs despite being recommended, following complaints of “discrepancies” in the vacancy list prepared by the education department.
A state secondary education board official said they have received complaints that when candidates selected for higher secondary teaching posts go to schools to join after completing police and medical verification, headmasters, in several cases, tell them that the posts do not exist.
This means that although the department had sent the vacancy list to the school service commission (SSC), the district inspector of schools has yet to sanction the posts, the official said.
Until sanctioned, a post is not generated in a school against which a monthly salary will be disbursed.
The complaints have reached such alarming proportions that board president Ramanuj Ganguly recently wrote to the education department seeking action on the “discrepancies.”
The board’s president wrote that instances of “incorrect vacancies” are leading to ineffective appointments and consequent complications.
“It is considered prudent to report to you.....and request your good office to kindly issue appropriate direction,” he wrote.
“We have received complaints about incorrect vacancies from several quarters. So we have brought this to the department’s attention and sought their direction,” said Ganguly.
“The Supreme Court has set us an August 31, 2026, deadline to complete the recruitment process both at the secondary and higher secondary levels. If the issue of incorrect vacancy is not resolved, then we will struggle to complete the processes on time,” he said.
The state government has initiated the process of appointing teachers at the secondary and higher secondary levels in government-aided schools after a decade-long gap, following the termination of 17,209 teachers in April last year.
The teachers had been axed following irregularities in the 2016 recruitment exercise.
The SSC held a selection test in September last year to shortlist candidates for appointment against vacancies created by the terminations.
The commission has so far published a merit list of candidates for the Plus II level, who are being counselled by the commission for recommendation to a school against an available vacancy.
The SSC said in its advertisement that 12,514 posts are vacant at the Plus II level.
The state secondary education board issues the letter of appointment to the recommended candidates.
“If schools say they have no information about a vacant post, how is a recommended candidate supposed to join?” a board official said.
The official said that since the appointments are time-bound, any lapse could hinder meeting the deadline.
“The Supreme Court had on April 17, 2025, set December 31, 2025, as the deadline to complete the recruitment process. After the SSC and education department cited that a barrage of petitions were coming in the way, the apex court on December 18, had extended the deadline till August 31,” the official said.
Once the commission and the board complete appointments at the higher secondary level, they will have to proceed with the recruitment process of 25,314 teachers at the secondary level.
“Any lapses, like the incorrect vacancy list, could make the job difficult. The highest court is unlikely to extend the deadline further and will reprimand us,” the official said.
The court, while extending the deadline, said that the 15,403 terminated but “untainted” teachers who have taken part in the fresh selection process to retain their jobs will continue to receive salaries till the end of August.