Bengal holds first teacher recruitment exam after 9 years amid tight security

Tight security was in place as the West Bengal School Service Commission’s (SSC) School Level Selection Test (SLST) was conducted at more than 630 centres spread across the state on Sunday (September 7).

This was the first teacher recruitment examination Bengal witnessed since the Supreme Court nullified over 26,000 jobs in government-run schools in April, leading to widespread outrage and despair. It was also the first of the two-phase SLST examination after a period of 9 years.

The exam is being conducted after 26,000 schoolteachers 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".

Also read: WBSSC issues notice for recruitment of over 35,726 schoolteachers after SC order

Sunday’s exam started at noon after the candidates went through thorough checking at the gates of the respective centres.

Over 3 lakh to take test

Around 3.19 lakh aspirants are scheduled to appear for the examination to recruit assistant teachers for Classes 9 and 10. Candidates also included those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

A three-tier security system was in place at examination centres, including checkpoint screening 100 metres from the venue, and multiple checks at the gates and on the premises.

Considering the security measures would be time-consuming, the candidates were asked to report to their respective centres from 10 am onwards, two hours before the exam was scheduled to start.

Strict security measures

Barcode scanners were used to check admit cards at entrances, and only pens, also made available at centres, were permitted inside.

Electronic devices and mobile phones were not allowed. Even venue supervisors and SSC officials were barred from carrying mobile phones into exam halls.

Also read: Bengal CM's financial assistance plan for sacked school staff illegal: Opposition

The WBSSC has embedded certain unique identification security features on each question paper to monitor candidates resorting to unfair means.

Trinamool, BJP trade barbs

Meanwhile, politics found its way into the examination as Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Kunal Ghosh criticised the Opposition BJP over candidates from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar travelling to Bengal to appear for the test. He mocked the BJP-ruled states, saying candidates from states with “double-engine governments” were heading to Bengal to take the examination since the recruitment processes in their own states were either stopped or lacked credibility.

“Double-engine governments” is a term popularised by the BJP to imply a state government aligned with the central government where the NDA is in charge.

Taking to X, Ghosh wrote in Bengali that job-seekers from “Yogi Rajya” (after UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditya) and other states were taking the West Bengal's SSC exams as they faced repeated postponements and lack of opportunities in their own states.

He further stressed that West Bengal has never barred non-residents from writing state recruitment tests. “No one has said Bengal's exams are only for Bengalis. No one harassed or insulted them. No one stopped them,” he said.

Also read: Jobless after SC verdict, Bengal teachers take their fight to Delhi

Union minister and former chief of Bengal BJP, Sukanta Majumdar, reacted to the examination, saying it was being held for the benefit of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her government. He said that had the government earlier differentiated between the tainted and non-tainted candidates, they would not have had to go through the pain to appear for the examination again.

"It is not fair for someone to appear in the exam after teaching for six years," he was quoted as saying.

Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari accused the Trinamool of selling teachers' recruitment question papers and not holding the examination fairly and transparently. He also alleged that more than 150 tainted candidates had been issued admit cards to sit for the examination despite the Supreme Court orders against it.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Shatarup Ghosh said the state government would now take “cut money” (unofficial commission) from candidates from other states also.

Next exam on Sept 14

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, WBSSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar said. The overall number of applicants for the two phases has gone beyond 5.65 lakh.

Also read: SC annuls jobs of 25,000 Bengal school teachers, orders fresh hirings

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.

In a message to the candidates who appeared for the examination on Sunday, Bengal 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.”

(With agency inputs)