Many of the sacked schoolteachers reported for work on Saturday, the first working day since the Supreme Court allowed the “not specifically tainted” but terminated teachers to conduct classes till December 31.
The School Service Commission (SSC) still needs to formally segregate the “tainted” teachers from “not specifically tainted”. Bengal education minister Bratya Basu had said on Friday that the commission was likely to release the list by Monday, pending legal approval.
At Mitra Institution in Bhowanipore, two sacked teachers — one teaching mathematics and the other, Bengali — returned to their classrooms. Headmaster Raja Dey expressed relief, saying his school’s 1,200 students would benefit from their return.
“However, the teachers are dissatisfied with the court’s order,” Dey said.
“Being allowed to teach only until December 31 and having to qualify through a fresh selection test doesn’t sit well with them. They want complete reinstatement with full honour.”
The Supreme Court on April 3 sacked 25,753 teaching and non-teaching school staff saying the recruitment process of 2016 was “vitiated”. But on April 17, it allowed the “not specifically tainted” teachers to continue till December 31, by when a fresh recruitment process must be completed.
Three teachers resumed duties at the Dum Dum Shree Aurobindo Vidyamandir on Saturday.
“We had initially considered hiring part-time teachers after the April 3 Supreme Court order, but the April 17 ruling has given us temporary relief,” headmaster Ashim Nanda said.
“The teachers returned reluctantly, knowing this was just a stopgap measure. Their credibility has been questioned.”
Of these three returning teachers, two teach accountancy in higher secondary classes and the third teaches political science.
This newspaper could not speak to the teachers themselves: the headmasters were worried that they were “anyway embarrassed”.
“It’s an untenable situation for teachers to be asked to work only until December 31,” Dey, the Mitra Institution headmaster, said.
“Many are worried about their future but couldn’t defy an apex court order; so they’ve returned to work. We understand their distress.”
The apex court’s April 17 order came after the secondary education board requested permission to retain the “not specifically tainted” staff until the completion of a fresh recruitment process or the end of the academic year in December.
In its miscellaneous petition, the board said the 17,206 terminated teachers made up 11.35 per cent of its existing teaching staff, and their sacking “would have a devastating impact across the schools in the state”.
While granting relief to the non-tainted teachers, the bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar left out the terminated Group C and D employees.
The teachers who have returned to work have done so with the hope of making the cut when the SSC lists the “not specifically tainted”.
Krishnangshu Mishra, general secretary of the West Bengal Headmasters’ Association, highlighted another concern.
“These teachers must reapply and cannot claim any ‘special right or advantage’ in the fresh recruitment process. They’re worried about having to take another test after having qualified fairly through the SSC exams of 2016,” he said.
“Many fear they might not be successful in the new recruitment process.”
Some teachers have not returned despite the court order.
“Our two affected teachers haven’t come back yet. They’re probably waiting for an official SSC certification confirming they belong to the ‘not specifically found to be tainted’ category,” Supriya Panja, headmaster of Park Institution in Shyambazar, said.
On Monday — the tentative date set by education minister Basu for the segregation list — the Deserving Teachers’ Rights Forum is to march to the SSC office in Salt Lake demanding the list.