The state college service commission on Wednesday moved an appeal before a high court division bench headed by Justice Soumen Sen against an order by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the court directing the panel to file a report by October 6 mentioning the marks of the candidates for assistant teacher jobs in government-aided colleges.
On September 27, Justice Gangopadhyay had issued the order following a petition
by Monalisha Ghosh, a job aspirant.
Ghosh submitted that the commission had published a merit list but there was no mention of the candidates’ marks.
On September 1, the commission had published the merit list of candidates who had qualified in SET (State Eligibility Test) or NET (National Eligibility Test) or had a PhD.
“The merit list only mentioned the names of the candidates, their registration numbers for the written test and their subjects. There was no mention of the candidate’s scores in the written test and their academic scores, which were awarded based on their performance from the Class X board level to the PhD level. The commission conducts a screening tier holding ‘demonstration classes’. The scores earned in those classes were also not mentioned,” said Sudupto Dasgupta, a lawyer representing Ghosh.
He said that at a time when the selection of teachers for government-aided schools is under the scanner because of complaints of irregularities in the screening process, the commission must announce the scores obtained by the candidates at each tier of the screening for college teachers.
On Wednesday, moving the appeal before the division bench, the commission’s lawyer, Kishore Datta, said the trial court judge (Justice Gangopadhyay) had issued the order on September 27 and set a deadline of October 6 to file a report containing the marks obtained by the candidates.
“It is impossible for my client to carry out the trial court’s order within a short span,” Datta submitted.
He prayed for a stay on the order passed by Justice Gangopadhyay. The appeal was accepted for hearing.
When The Telegraph asked Dipak Kar, chairman of the college service commission, why the detailed marks could not be uploaded, he said in a text message: “There are no provisions in CSC rules/regulations/Act.”
Following an order from the high court, the school service commission has decided to upload on its website the academic scores of candidates for teaching jobs at the upper primary level (Class VI to VIII).
The academic score of a candidate — which is factored in, along with the marks in the Teachers’ Eligibility Test, while preparing the merit list — reflects a candidate’s performance at various levels such as secondary, higher secondary and graduation, said an SSC official.
“When the school service commission can announce detailed scores, what prevents the college service commission from doing so? Even the state primary board does the same. They (the commission) must upload marks to address the grievances of candidates... and for the sake of transparency,” said lawyer Dasgupta.