Around 14,000 of the 15,403 eligible teachers returned to school and took classes on Thursday, the first working day since the education department handed a segregated list to institution heads.
A large number of the teachers protesting in front of the school service commission office seeking such a list returned to school.
The Supreme Court terminated the jobs of 25,753 school staff on April 3. Although the court, in a separate order on April 17, asked the dismissed but not “specifically found to be tainted” teachers to return to school, many teachers did not resume work because they were awaiting clarification on their status.
Pinki Chakraborty Maitra, a regular among the protesters, was one of those who returned to her school in Hooghly. “We could not defy the Supreme Court. But that we have been asked to work till December-end, which is the end of the academic year, is weighing heavily on my mind. What will I do after that?” asked the biology teacher.
Kuheli Gonra, a math teacher at a secondary school in Howrah, also went back to school on Thursday.
“The whole day was spent on formalities like submitting details of our joining report to the district inspector of schools. The teachers certified as ‘not specifically tainted’ have to submit their credentials to the DI,” she said.
“We will take classes, but our fight to be reinstated with full honours will continue. A review petition will be filed before the Supreme Court.”
Some teachers who could not return to school spent the day in front of the SSC office.
“I will return to school in East Burdwan on Friday... But we are worried about our future,” said Arpita Sengupta.
The state government will file a review petition against the apex court’s April 3 order.
If the court strikes down the review plea, then the 15,403 teachers have to write a fresh test to ensure they have their jobs after December 31.
The gathering in front of the SSC office substantially waned on Thursday.
The protest space was taken over by teaching and non-teaching staff who have not been allowed to return to their jobs by the Supreme Court, even for the time being. They have formed a platform.
Police set up two barricades separating the tainted from the “not specifically tainted”, said an SSC official.
A protester said: “These tainted teachers who have been joined by the tainted non-teaching staff are now more in number. They are not saying anything against the SSC or the government. Rather, they are holding us responsible for their predicament.”
Ever since the government segregated the 15,403 eligible teachers, the salaries of the rest — teachers and Group C and D staff — have been stopped.
Kamlesh Kapat, a spokesperson for those who have not made the cut, said: “The CBI in its report to the Supreme Court said 4,091 teachers got their jobs through OMR disputes. But the court has not accepted the CBI’s findings... Then how could they stop our salaries?”