The school service commission will hold teacher recruitment tests to appoint special educators who would help children with special needs at the upper primary, secondary and higher secondary levels in government-aided schools.
The school service commission said on Friday that 1,941 vacancies would be filled through TET (Teachers Eligibility Test).
The Supreme Court had asked the state government to appoint special educators.
Candidates have been asked to submit forms online between September 1 and 24 and deposit fees.
An SSC official said the selection tests to appoint the special educators will be conducted after the commission has completed the selection tests to appoint assistant teachers at the secondary and higher secondary levels, scheduled on September 7 and 14.
The dates of the examination to appoint special educators will be announced on August 31, the commission’s notice says.
On March 7, the apex court ordered all states to notify sanctioned posts for special educators by March 28, 2025, and to complete the entire appointment process within 12 weeks from that date.
The order said once the posts were notified, they must be advertised in newspapers and on government websites and a selection and appointment process will be undertaken for eligible and qualified teachers as part of an inclusive education drive.
Sources in the education department said that this was the first time that the state government would reserve 10 per cent of the vacancies for such teachers.
Previously, the state would recruit special educators on a contractual basis.
A 2021 Supreme Court directive mandated the states to create permanent positions for special educators based on pupil-teacher ratios and the recruitment of teachers for these regular positions.
Special BEd or DElEd degrees are mandatory from institutes affiliated under the Rehabilitation Council of India to become a special educator.
“The apex court had earlier directed that there should be at least one special educator for four schools in the state. In this context, there would be 1,941 special educators,” said the official.
A notice signed by the secretary of the commission says: “In connection with the direction passed by the Supreme Court, the West Bengal School Service Commission will hold TET for the recruitment of special education teachers in the government-aided/sponsored schools.”
The draft guidelines say the OMR sheet associated with the recruitment examination will be preserved for at least 10 years, considering the allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of assistant teachers at the secondary and higher secondary levels, leading to the termination of jobs of 17,206 teachers.
The copy of the OMR sheets will be handed over to the examinees after the examination.