About 23 lakh candidates wrote the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) on Sunday for 30,000 posts of primary school teachers, the footfall reflecting the desperation for jobs in an industry-starved state.
The number of candidates has shot up by six lakhs since the last test in 2013, officials said.
Many of those who wrote Sunday's test have a Master's degree or a PhD. They are vying for a job that would fetch them Rs 13,000 a month. A candidate must score at least 50 per cent in the HS or an equivalent exam to sit for the test.
"The huge turnout shows the desperation of jobless youths in Bengal. Candidates with an MSc or an MTech degree took the test because they don't have too many options," an academic told Metro. "The candidate count demonstrates how bleak the job situation is."
A professor at Jadavpur University explained what could have prompted engineering students to write TET.
In April 2013, then Jadavpur University vice-chancellor Souvik Bhattacharyya had to call a meeting with department heads to deal with the poor placement scene in engineering. "JU, never accused of poor placement, had to hold a placement workshop to deal with the crisis. Around the same time, the Bengal Engineering and Science University - now IIEST - had to hold similar meetings. If this is the situation at premiere engineering institutes, you can make out what future awaits students of lesser-known colleges," the professor said.
In 2013, 17.05 lakh candidates had written the primary TET for 34,559 vacancies across the state. Only 18,793 had passed.
There were allegations that the question paper had reached candidates one-and-a-half hour before the start of the exams through WhatsApp. State primary education board president Manik Bhattacharya denied the allegation.
Accident
Saikat Ghosh, 35, died on Sunday on GT Road in Mogra, Hooghly, while he was taking his wife to a TET examination centre. Saikat and his wife, Piyali, 32, were riding a two-wheeler, which was hit by a truck from behind. Piyali suffered multiple fractures in both legs.
