State notifies recruitment rules for non-teaching school staff

Kolkata: The Bengal government has published fresh recruitment rules for non-teaching staff in state-run schools, introducing structured evaluation criteria that include marks for similar experience, a first for these posts.

Published in the official gazette on August 4, the West Bengal School Service Commission (Selection of Persons for Appointment to the Posts of Non-Teaching Staff) Rules, 2025 will govern recruitment for librarians, clerks, and Group D staff. All three posts will carry five marks for “similar experience”, with candidates awarded one mark per completed year.

For the post of librarian, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in general stream Arts, Science, or Commerce, along with a degree in Library Science. The age requirement is a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 years as on January 1 of the year of advertisement. The selection process will comprise a 75-mark OMR-based written exam, 10 marks for professional qualifications, five marks for similar experience, and a 10-mark oral interview.

Clerk applicants must have passed the Madhyamik or its equivalent, or the old Higher Secondary examination. The age limit is 18 to 40 years. The evaluation includes a 60-mark written test, 10 marks for academic qualifications, five marks for similar experience, 15 marks for typing and computer proficiency, and a 10-mark oral interview.

For Group D posts, candidates must have passed Class VIII from a recognised institution and fall within the 18 to 40 age range. The recruitment will involve a 40-mark written test, five marks for similar experience, and a five-mark interview. To ensure transparency, candidates will receive a duplicate copy of the OMR answer sheet to take home. Original OMR sheets will be destroyed two years after the expiry of the panel, but scanned images will be retained for 10 years.

The rules include age relaxations: five years for SC/ST candidates, three years for OBC candidates (subject to court orders), and eight years for persons with disabilities. Further concessions will be extended to terminated but “untainted” non-teaching staff, as per a Supreme Court order.

Merit and waiting lists will remain valid for one year from the date of first counselling, extendable by six months with government approval.