The process to recruit 35,826 schoolteachers to government-aided schools in Bengal had a bumpy start on Monday with many applicants complaining they could not submit their forms online till late evening.
Officials of the School Service Commission said the online system for accepting applications was not ready yet. Late at night, the link became accessible.
The commission had earlier announced that candidates would be able to submit their application forms online from 5pm.
But hundreds of would-be applicants complained they could not find on the SSC website the link through which the forms are to be submitted.
Asked about the delay, SSC chairperson Siddhartha Majumder told The Telegraph in a text message around 6.30pm: “They are in the final lap of the preparatory steps. That is why it (the link) is being inaccessible. Will be active soon.”
The Bengal government will be recruiting schoolteachers after nine years. Applications for the post of assistant teachers at government-aided schools can be submitted online. On offer are 23,312 teaching posts at the secondary level and 12,514 at the higher secondary level.
The Supreme Court on April 3 terminated the jobs of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff of aided schools in Bengal, ruling that the entire recruitment process had been “vitiated”. These employees had taken their recruitment exam in November 2016.
On April 17, the court modified its order allowing teachers “not specifically found tainted” to continue working and draw salaries until December 31. But they would have to clear a fresh recruitment exam to retain their jobs beyond that date, it said.
Following the ruling, the state education department issued a notification on May 30 announcing that a fresh recruitment drive would begin on June 16.
“The commission had said the process of online filling of forms would start from 5pm on June 16. But I did not get the link on the commission’s website past 7pm. I’m worried and tense. Is the state government serious about the recruitment process?” Lubaba Parvin, who wants to apply, said on Monday evening before the link got up and running.
Parvin, 37, had cracked the recruitment exam conducted by the SSC in 2016 but was waitlisted. She did not get the job.
She has filed a petition before Calcutta High Court against the latest recruitment drive, alleging it favours the in-service teachers as they will get up to 20 grace marks.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharya is scheduled to hear her petition.
“I am in favour of carrying out the recruitment exercise in a fair manner, which ensures a level playing field for all. I wanted to log on to the commission’s portal to getan idea of how to apply. But the delay that I encountered was disheartening,” Parvin said.
“On May 30, the commission had in its recruitment notification announced that the candidates could submit their application forms fromJune 16. But it’s 7.30 in the evening, and the link to apply isstill not available.”
The SSC notification said a candidate could apply till July 14 and the selection test had tentatively been scheduled for the first week of September.
Shiuli Batabyal, recruited in the 2016 drive that stands cancelled, said she too failed to find the link on the commission’s website till late in the evening.
“It’s sad that in-service teachers like us are being made to write a fresh selection test for no fault of ours,” she said.
“Although my plan was to apply on a later date, I visited the commission’s website around 6pm to see whether the link had been uploaded. But I could not see any.”