The school service commission (SSC) has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, urging that “untainted” teachers be allowed to continue working in schools with their salaries until August 2026, as the commission will need more time to complete the ongoing recruitment process.
The apex court had mandated the commission to complete the task by December.
The commission said it will start the counselling process to recommend candidates for the post of teachers at the higher secondary level (Classes XI and XII) of government-aided schools from January 15, and it will take at least four months to complete the process.
The counselling process to shortlist candidates for the appointment of teachers at the secondary level (Classes IX and X) will start from late March, and this will take another four months, the commission said.
The commission cited a wave of fresh court cases challenging the recruitment rules as one of the constraints coming in the way of completing the recruitments within the deadline.
On April 3, the apex court terminated the jobs of 17,209 teachers because of a vitiated recruitment process.
On April 17, the apex court said those not found “specifically tainted” (later identified as untainted) would be allowed to continue to work as teachers until December.
On September 7 and 14, as many as 15,403 untainted teachers took the fresh selection tests.
An SSC official said they sought an extended deadline because the Assembly elections are scheduled in between, and it could delay the recruitment process.
Assembly elections in Bengal are usually held in April and May.
Metro reported on December 12 that the SSC will inform the Supreme Court that it cannot complete the teacher recruitments within the deadline.
“The enormity of the task — document verification, interviews and counselling of so many candidates — has also made it difficult to meet the deadline. It’s an exhaustive assignment that needs time. That the commission is having to deal with legal challenges questioning the recruitment rules now and then has also posed challenges,” SSC chairperson Siddhartha Majumdar said.
“We hope the Supreme Court will take note of our concerns,” he added.
The SSC on Friday released a list of close to 40,000 candidates who will be called for interviews for teacher posts at the secondary level of government-aided schools.
The commission has yet to announce the dates for its interview and counselling.
The commission is now holding interviews to shortlist candidates for the appointment of teachers for 35 subjects at the Plus-II level.
The exercise aims to recruit 23,512 teachers at the secondary level and 12,454 at the higher secondary level.
“No way the recruitment can be completed by December. So we have given a realistic time frame to the Supreme Court while seeking an extension,” said an SSC official.
The fresh petitioners in court have sought clarity on whether an additional 10 marks for in-service teachers — approved earlier by both the high court and the Supreme Court — would be awarded before the interviews or before the merit list is published.
They have also challenged the legality of awarding up to 10 extra marks for experience.
In the face of mounting legal challenges, the SSC clarified on December 4 that the “fate of the recruitment process” would depend on the outcome of writ petitions.
“It has to be appreciated that the commission is also preoccupied with holding recruitment tests for the appointment of non-teaching staff at the secondary and higher secondary levels. The tests are scheduled in January,” said an SSC official.
Along with the teachers, the Supreme Court had also sacked over 8,000 Group C and Group D school employees.