Age limit for prez of Board of Secondary Education raised to 65

The state government has raised the age of the president of the Board of Secondary Education to 65 years. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed in the Assembly on Friday.

The Bill states the state government by notification, can appoint an ad hoc committee comprising a president and other members not exceeding eleven. The president and the ad hoc committee shall exercise all the powers and shall perform all the functions, of the president of the board, and the ad hoc committee shall exercise all the powers and shall perform all the functions of the board and the committee constituted by the board under this Act.

Presenting the amendment, state Education minister Partha Chatterjee said the financial implication in giving effect to the provisions of the Bill and the necessary budgetary provision shall be made in consultation with the Finance department in due course.

Criticising the Bill, Asit Mitra of Congress said Trinamool Congress was trying to stifle the voice of democracy and was trying to appoint people owning allegiance to the party in every key position. He said the reason why the age limit of the president of the board would be increased to 65 years was not clear. It shows that the state government was not ready infuse fresh blood and had even decided to run schools with teachers who had retired.