The state primary education board will publish a merit list this week to appoint 793 special educators in government-aided primary schools.
Special educators possess the expertise to teach differently abled children.
The Supreme Court last year directed states to appoint special educators without delay.
The board, which held a selection test in February, interviewed the shortlisted candidates on March 24 and 25.
“A merit list of 793 candidates who have been selected for the job is expected to be published this week. After the Supreme Court’s order, Bengal will be the first state to appoint special educators at the primary level (Classes I to V),” Gautam Paul, the board president, said.
Though the board is proceeding with the recruitment process, it has postponed the selection process to shortlist assistant teachers for primary schools following an intervention from the Election Commission and complaints of violation of the model code of conduct.
The sixth phase and subsequent phases of the interview and aptitude test to shortlist assistant teachers at the primary level, scheduled in April, have been postponed.
A primary board official said they had not received any query from the EC on the selection of the special educators, and so they were proceeding with the appointments.
“Since this recruitment is being made following a directive from the Supreme Court, we hope the commission will not raise any objection to this,” said the official.
The primary board conducted the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) on February 22 to shortlist candidates for special educators.
The board had said that 2,308 special educators will be appointed in this round based on their TET results and other selection parameters. Around 3,000 candidates had written the test on February 22.
On March 7, 2025, the apex court ordered all states to notify sanctioned posts for special educators by March 28, 2025, and to complete the appointment process within 12 weeks from that date.
On August 22, 2025, the school service commission announced that it would hold teacher recruitment tests to appoint special educators at the upper primary (Classes VI to VII), secondary (Classes IX and X), and higher secondary (Classes XI and XII) levels of government-aided schools.
SSC said that 1,941 vacancies would be filled through the TET.
According to education department sources, this is the first instance in which a state is planning to set aside 10 per cent of vacancies for special educators at every level.