The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has received nearly 5.9 lakh applications for teaching positions in its fresh recruitment drive — almost double the number recorded in 2016.
Senior officials of the WBSSC informed that around 5.9 lakh candidates applied for the 35,726 assistant teacher posts at secondary and higher secondary levels in state-run and state-aided schools. The corresponding figure in 2016 was around 3.16 lakh.
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday cleared the way for fresh recruitment, stating that the updated rules are stricter and more focused on students’ interests.
After scrapping the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff in government-aided schools — calling the 2016 recruitment process “tainted” — the Supreme Court, in April this year, directed the state government and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to conduct a fresh recruitment drive and complete it by year-end.
The online application portal was launched as per Supreme Court directions on June 16 and the last date to register was July 21. The top court mandated the West Bengal government and the commission to complete the recruitment process before December 31 this year.
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“Some 5.8-5.9 lakh candidates have applied for the posts of assistant teachers in state-run and state-aided secondary and higher-secondary schools,” WBSSC Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar said.
“While a total of 1.41 lakh candidates had applied for classes 9-10 in 2016, another 1.75 lakh candidates had registered for teaching positions for classes 11-12 that year,” an official said, quoting commission records.
The increase in the number of applications this year was recorded despite the assertion of a section of disgruntled teachers – who claimed eligibility for their appointments, yet lost their jobs on account of the apex court verdict – that they wouldn’t sit for fresh tests to get recruited.
Commission officials revealed that a significant majority of teachers found ‘not tainted’ in the discredited 2016 appointment have freshly applied for jobs.
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“Nearly 13,000 of the 15,403 teachers, who were ‘not found to be specifically tainted’ by the commission and whose names it had forwarded to the offices of Directorate of Education (DI) in districts for continuation in service till the new recruitment process gets over, have applied for the vacant posts for which State Level Selection Test (SLST) will be held later this year,” another SSC official said.
— with inputs from PTI
