The state primary education board will start receiving online application forms for the recruitment of primary school teachers in government-aided schools from Wednesday.
Education minister Bratya Basu said 13,421 teachers will be appointed in this round.
Candidates who have passed the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) will be screened based on their academic qualifications, interview scores, training and other parameters.
The board did not hold TET last year, as those who cleared the TET in 2022 and 2023 were not called for interviews.
The board announced the recruitment drive for government-aided primary schools (Classes I to V) on September 27. On September 26, the board published the results of the TET held in December 2023 to shortlist candidates for the teaching posts.
“The process will start with the receipt of online application forms,” said an education department official.
The last round of primary-level recruitment was held in January 2021, based on the 2017 TET, four years after the notification.
The fate of those recruited in 2016 (based on TET-2014) and 2021 remains uncertain, as Calcutta High Court last week completed hearing numerous petitions alleging irregularities in the recruitment of 32,000 teachers. The verdict is due.
The fresh recruitment process begins at a time when uncertainty hangs over many more jobs.
Minister Basu told Metro: “The state government is going to appoint almost 50,000 teachers, primary (by the primary board), secondary and higher secondary levels (by the school service commission) by the end of this year.”
The SSC is scheduled to appoint 12,454 teachers at the higher secondary level of government-aided schools, for which the selection test was held on September 14.
The commission is also scheduled to appoint 23,514 teachers at the secondary level of government-aided schools, for which the selection test was held on September 7.
In April, the Supreme Court terminated the jobs of 17,206 teachers in the secondary and higher secondary levels of government-aided schools and instructed the commission to complete the fresh recruitment process by this December.
An education department official stated that the selection parameters for appointment as primary teachers will include: performance in the written test (TET); marks in Madhyamik or equivalent; marks in Higher Secondary or equivalent; diploma in elementary education; extra-curricular activities and performance in an interview.
Candidates are required to indicate their preferred district primary school council for posting, subject to the availability of vacancies by medium and category.
A board official stated that candidates who have cleared TET-2022 and TET-2023 will be called for interviews.