Kolkata: The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) on Saturday issued a notification for counselling and appointment of 1,982 primary teacher candidates from the 2020–22 Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) batch, in compliance with a Supreme Court directive, taking the recruitment process initiated in 2022 closer to completion.
The Board said district-wise panels had been forwarded to the respective District Primary School Councils and Primary School Councils. Candidates whose names figure in the merit list have been asked to approach the concerned councils for document verification, counselling and issuance of appointment letters. The appointments relate to the recruitment notification dated September 29, 2022, which sought to fill 11,765 primary teacher posts. Candidates pursuing the D.El.Ed course then were permitted to apply following a Calcutta High Court order, despite not holding the qualification on the date of notification. A subsequent division bench ruling barred their participation, prompting the affected candidates to move the Supreme Court.
The apex court later allowed the 2020–22 D.El.Ed candidates to participate in the interview process and, in April last year, directed their appointment. Acting on the order, the WBBPE recently published the list of 1,982 eligible candidates.
Of those selected, 1,966 are from the Bengali medium, 13 from the Hindi medium, one from the Nepali medium and two from the Santhali medium.