School teachers' retirement: Govt to rethink on increasing upper age limit

To give opportunities to the huge number of qualified candidates seeking jobs in schools, the state government will consider the proposal of not increasing the upward age limit of retirement of school teachers to the age of 62.

State Education minister Partha Chatterjee in reply to a question said in the Assembly that his department will not allow the upper age limit of retirement of school teachers up to the age of 62 because there are a large number of job aspirants who will clear various levels of school service examination.

Chatterjee on Wednesday criticised some people who were delaying the processes of recruitment of teachers in the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary level. He said that due to various cases, the whole process of recruitment was getting delayed. He also said that if there were any issues, they could be solved through discussion. What's point in unnecessarily delaying the process of recruitment of teachers in various levels.

The minister also blamed a CPI(M) leaders for delaying the process by moving a Public Interest Litigation in the court. Giving a reply to the allegation raised by an Opposition MLA on some irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers, Chatterjee said that during the Left Front regime, the teachers were selected by the CPI(M) leaders in their party offices.

"The list was prepared at the party offices and they were delivered to the candidates through the district inspector of schools," Chatterjee said. He also justified the inclusion of the history of Singur in school curriculum by terming it a "peasant movement".

A CPI(M) MLA in the Assembly raised question on the logic behind including Singur history into the school syllabus. Chatterjee in reply asked: "Will we include Marx and Lenin in school syllabus, instead of Singur?"

"Singur is a mass movement. It was the history of people. The Supreme Court has recognised the movement," Chatterjee said.