Bengal: 3.19 lakh candidates to appear for SSC teacher recruitment exams

Kolkata: An estimated 3.19 lakh candidates are on Sunday expected to appear for the West Bengal SSC's School Level Selection Test (SLST) for recruitment to assistant teacher posts for classes 9 and 10, officials said.

The exam is being conducted after around 26,000 school teachers and non-teaching staffers lost their jobs as per the direction of the Supreme Court, which stated that their recruitment process held in 2016 was "tainted and vitiated".

Candidates will be writing their papers at 636 centres, all educational institutions, across the state from noon.

Another 2.46 lakh candidates will sit for the recruitment test of assistant teachers of classes 11 and 12 at 478 centres on September 14, the next Sunday, WBSSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar said.

The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has embedded certain unique identification security features on each question paper to monitor candidates resorting to unfair means.

The apex court had directed the WBSSC to ensure that teachers who were identified as having got their jobs through unscrupulous means are not allowed to appear in this recruitment process.

Subsequently, the names of 1,806 such 'tainted' teachers were announced by the WBSSC.

Considering the security measures, every candidate was asked to turn up at the centres from 10 am onwards, two hours before the start of the exam.

Apart from pens, also available at the centres, no other electronic devices or mobile phones have been allowed, Majumdar said.

Venue supervisors and even SSC officials are also not being allowed inside the exam halls with phones.

A barcode scanner will check the admit cards at the entrance.

In a message to the candidates, state Education Minister Bratya Basu said, "The entire administration is always with you to ensure security, transparency and all possible facilities at 636 venues so that you deliver your best. Reach your centre on time. Best wishes to all."

Kolkata Metro Railways ran services in the Blue line (Dakshineshwar-Sahid Khudiram) and Green Line (Howrah Maidan-Salt Lake Sector V) from the morning to facilitate journey of candidates to the exam centres.