‘Temporary relief’ for sacked Bengal teachers after SC order on extension of recruitment deadline

Thousands of teachers in West Bengal, who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court’s annulment of a 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) earlier this year, heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday after the apex court extended the deadline for the completion of fresh recruitments to August 31.

“The top court has ordered the completion of the recruitment process by August 31… During this period, [aggrieved] teachers will be able to continue working as before” Education Minister Bratya Basu said.

On April 3 this year, the Supreme Court cancelled nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching job appointments made by the WBSSC in 2016, citing a ‘vitiated and tainted’ recruitment process. The court also directed the West Bengal government to conduct fresh recruitments for teaching positions for classes 9-10 and 11-12 in State-run and State-aided schools by December 31. Protests erupted across the State with teachers claiming to be ‘untainted and deserving’ demanding the retention of their jobs.

On Thursday, the apex court extended the deadline for the completion of fresh recruitments to August 31, 2026, and granted the not specifically tainted teachers to continue working with pay till the new deadline.

“We are relieved as we were uncertain of what the future holds for us beyond December 31. The Supreme Court gave us some temporary relief by extending our tenure. But our fight does not end here. Many of the deserving teachers who applied for fresh recruitments did not get called for interview, so we will never be completely relieved till every untainted teacher gets justice,” Habibullah, a ‘sacked’ teacher and spokesperson of the Jogyo Shikkhok Shikkhika Adhikar Mancha (JSSAM), said on Thursday.

Chinmoy Mondal, another protesting ‘untainted’ teacher and member of JSSAM, said that while the Supreme Court order will allow them to stay employed for a little longer, ‘untainted’ teachers want to retain their jobs in the long-term with dignity and certainty.

“We hope that any teacher who is untainted will not be deprived in any way. The State government should ensure that our jobs remain intact in a lawful way. We request the judiciary to not let the future of deserving teachers be affected due to the malpractice of others,” Mr. Mondal said.

Meanwhile, protests erupted in Kolkata on Thursday among new teaching aspirants. They demanded a ‘level playing field’ in the fresh recruitment process and opposed the provision for 10 extra marks for the sacked, untainted teachers during the ongoing hiring.