Calcutta HC scraps 36,000 teachers' recruitment

KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Friday cancelled the appointments of 36,000 primary teachers who had been recruited in 2016 based on the primary State Level Selection Test (SLST) in 2014. The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) has decided to challenge this order.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay cancelled the appointments on grounds that these teachers neither underwent teachers' training - required before their selection - nor had they appeared for an aptitude test, a component in the recruitment process.
WBBPE president Goutam Paul said the 36,000 teachers mentioned in the court order hadn't been trained at the time of recruitment, but afterwards. "We wish to make it clear that the board trained all these teachers through open distance learning (ODL) mode. This training was completed in 2019. There is not a single untrained teacher in this lot," he said. In all, 42,500 primary teachers had been appointed in 2016.
The services of these 36,000 teachers, however, will not be terminated immediately. Justice Gangopadhyay allowed them to continue as para teachers on a reduced salary. They could re-apply for the regular posts if they underwent the teachers' training in the next two years, he ruled.
The judge, observing that the irregularities were during the tenure of former WBBPE head Manik Bhattacharya, said the state could realise recruitment costs from Bhattacharya, if it wanted.
Paul said the board would challenge the order. "We are taking legal advice. We had submitted all documents relating to the aptitude test and interviews in the form of an affidavit to the HC on its instructions." He also held that the jobs were not irregular. "We recruited them following NCTE norms," he said.