English 
हिन्दी 
Kolkata: The West Bengal government late on Thursday issued a notification to recruit 35,726 assistant teachers in state-run secondary and higher secondary schools ahead of the May 31 deadline set by the Supreme Court that cancelled the appointment of 25,752 school teachers and non-teaching staff from the 2016 panel.
According to a notice uploaded to the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) website late on Thursday evening, 23,212 teachers were going to be recruited for classes 9–10 and 12,514 for classes 11–12 in secondary and higher secondary schools, respectively.
While the written examination is likely to be held in the first week of September this year, the results are expected to be published in the fourth week of October. The counselling and recommendation process is expected to start in the last week of November.
The notification said the WBSSC had filed a review petition in the apex court and the recruitment exercise was “subject to the outcome of the review petitions and guidelines of the Supreme Court, to be followed by the commission and the government.”
The Supreme Court on April 3 scrapped the appointment of 25,752 Bengal government-appointed 2016-batch schoolteachers and non-teaching staff in connection with the bribe-for-job case. On an appeal by the state government, the top court allowed the untainted assistant teachers, who lost their jobs following the court’s earlier order in the West Bengal recruitment scam, to continue in service until fresh hiring.
The court also ordered the government to start the recruitment process by May 31 and wind it up by December 31.
Many of the teachers whose appointment was scrapped by the court have been holding protests since early May.
“Age-relaxation has been given to the teachers who lost their jobs after the verdict. I cracked the School Service Commission exam in 2016. Since then, there has been a sea change. I am 43 years old now. Teaching in a school and preparing for a competitive exam are totally different. I have to attend school, manage my family and then prepare for the test and compete with fresh candidates. What if I don’t manage? How will I sustain my family? EMI for house loan is continuing,” said Debasish Adhikari, who teaches political science at Hazrapur High School in Nadia.
While the minimum and maximum age limits for the test are 21 years and 40 years as on January 1, 2025, the upper age limit is relaxable by five years for SC and ST candidates, three years for the backward class candidates, and eight years for specially-abled candidates.
“Age relaxation will be given to the candidates who have been given the benefit of age relaxation as per order dated 03.04.25 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the notification said.
“There are several questions. Will there be a break in service if a teacher (who lost his job) clears this exam? In that case, he won’t be able to avail the benefits that have accrued over the years in service. Except for the age-relaxation, the teachers who lost their jobs won’t get any extra facilities. How is it possible to start preparations afresh again and sit a competitive exam in the next three months? We are all totally out of touch now. I have a family now, my son goes to school, my parents are ailing with one of them having to undergo dialysis. I also have to attend school. When will I study for the exam?” said Rup Bhattacharya, 41, who teaches in a secondary school in East Burdwan district.
The protesting teachers have been staging an indefinite sit-in for the past 22 days outside the West Bengal education department headquarters in Salt Lake.
The case hit the headlines in May 2022 when the Calcutta High Court ordered the central bureau of investigation (CBI) to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021, when Partha Chatterjee was education minister. Many appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of ₹5–15 lakh to get jobs after failing the selection tests. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which started a parallel probe, arrested Chatterjee in July 2022. The ED filed charges against him, ex-primary education board president and legislator Manik Bhattacharya, and 52 others in January this year.
