Calcutta HC cancels appointments of 36,000 primary teachers, board to challenge order

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 primary teachers' training - required before the were selected - nor had they appeared for the aptitude test, a component in the recruitment process.
WBBPE president Goutam Paul said the 36,000 teachers had been trained after they were appointed. "The board trained all these teachers through open distance learning (ODL). This training was completed in 2019. There is not a single untrained teacher in this lot," he said.
In 2016, 42,500 primary teachers had been appointed.
The services of these 36,000 teachers will not be terminated immediately. The judge allowed them to continue as para teachers on reduced salary and re-apply for the regular posts if they underwent training in two years.
NCTE norms followed for recruitment: WBBPE prez
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court, cancelling the appointment of 36,000 primary school teachers, observed that the irregularities were during the tenure of former West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) chairman Manik Bhattacharya.
The state could realize the cost of fresh recruitments from Bhattacharya, if it wanted, the judge said.
The board said it 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 high court on its instructions," said WBBPE president Goutam Paul. He also held that the appointments were not irregular. "We recruited them following NCTE norms," he said.