The school service commission (SSC) has extended the last date for submission of online forms for teaching job aspirants at government-aided schools by a week.

The commission issued a notice on Sunday, announcing that the last date to apply has been extended till July 21.
The online submission of applications started on June 16 and was scheduled to end on July 14.

Siddhartha Majumdar, chairperson of the commission, said applicants could
not submit forms on three days in the 31-day application window.

“The submission of forms started at 10.30pm on June 16. We cannot count June 16 because the process started late. Then the link to submit forms had to be shut for two days — June 21 and June 22. The link was restored on June 23,” he told Metro.

“Considering the loss of days and the demand from the job aspirants that the deadline be extended, the SSC has decided to extend it by a week, till July 21,” Majumdar said on Sunday.

More than 4.5 lakh candidates had applied till Sunday, Majumdar said.

When the SSC started receiving application forms on June 16, it followed the state government’s new notification of June 8 on the rules for reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in jobs and education.

On June 17, a division bench of Calcutta High Court imposed an interim stay on the June 8 notification till July 31.

“The state government informed us on June 20 not to receive any category-wise applications. Accordingly, we had to moderate the link and keep it shut for two days,” said an SSC official.

The commission has not been receiving any category-wise applications since June 23, following the interim stay on the June 8 notification.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear the state government’s special leave petition challenging the high court’s June 17 order on July 15, after it reopens following the summer break. This also prompted the commission to extend the deadline, the SSC official explained.

“If the Supreme Court hears the state government’s special leave petition on Tuesday, and the court delivers a judgment on that day, this will clear the air on the OBC category rules for applicants,” the official said.

The selection test is likely to be held in the first week of September.

The commission plans to recruit more than 35,700 assistant teachers for Classes IX through XII at government-aided schools.