TET: HC orders fresh recruitment process

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday cancelled the recruitment process of upper primary assistant teachers conducted by the West Bengal Central School Service Commission and directed to commence it afresh from January 4. Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya set aside the panel as well as the merit list of the upper primary and directed the Commission to complete fresh recruitment by July 31, 2021.

"The High Court has directed that the document verification process should start from January 4, 2021 and should be completed within April 5, 2021. The interview list of the candidates should be completed by May 10. The final selection process should be done within eight weeks and merit list should be published by July 31,2021. If the Commission wants, it can conduct the entire process through virtual mode abiding norms of physical distancing," said Firdous Shamim, one of the petitioners in the case.

The TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) for recruitment in upper primary was held on August 16, 2015 in which 5 lakh candidates appeared. The results of the written examination were published on September 14, 2016 where it was found that about 2.4 lakh candidates had passed. The interview list of 29,000 candidates was brought out on August 23, 2019. From October 5 to October 25 2019, about 12,000 complaints were submitted before the SSC alleging favouritism in the merit list. It was alleged that about 3,000 interviewed candidates were not listed on merit and undeserving candidates featured in the merit list. The court has directed the Commission to ensure that deserving candidates are not left out from the merit list and the entire process is conducted in a transparent manner.

"At first, we have to go through the order properly, then we will consult the Education department as well as our law cell and decide the next course of action," said Ashok Saha, Secretary, WBCSSC.