Primary teacher recruitment: Editing phase begins

Kolkata: With the application process for the recruitment of 13,421 primary teachers completed, the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) has begun the online editing phase, with document verification and interviews to be fully videographed to ensure transparency, board president Goutam Pal said on Friday.

The online application window opened on November 19 and closed on December 9 at 11.59 pm, with nearly 60,000 applications submitted. According to WBBPE officials, a substantial number of applicants this time are in-service teachers, who were barred from applying in 2022 following a court directive but were allowed in the current process. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 applicants are likely to be in-service teachers.

The editing window, which opened on Saturday, allows candidates to correct or update information already submitted in their application forms and will remain open till December 15. Pal said no candidate would be excluded during this phase and that eliminations, if any, would take place only during document verification.

After the editing phase closes, applications will be sorted medium-wise and category-wise, including language and reservation status, and then arranged district-wise, as candidates will be called for interviews district-wise.

“The next step after sorting will be document verification and interviews. Candidates will be verified against the documents they uploaded, and any discrepancy or false declaration will lead to rejection at that stage,” Pal said, adding that the entire verification process would be videographed.

Candidates who clear verification will be allowed to participate in interviews, which will also be videographed. Pal said the schedule for verification and interviews has not yet been finalised. “A decision will be made next week. Our aim is to begin the process as early as possible,” he said, indicating that it could start in late December or early January.