Difference of opinion between the school service commission (SSC) and the education department over how aspirants should be screened for the post of assistant teacher in government-aided secondary schools may delay a recruitment process the notification for which was issued in May 2022, SSC officials said.
A senior commission official said the department in its draft rules sent to the SSC on Thursday suggested that the candidates be made to take a written test of subjective questions carrying 300 marks.
The SSC official said they had told the department earlier that the commission wanted to test candidates on objective questions carrying 90 marks, using OMR sheets, because that would lead to faster publication of results.
Another SSC official said the department has suggested that the commission complete the recruitment process within three months of getting the vacancy positions.
“The commission is against any such deadline as that could lead to a flawed selection,” the official said.
“The department wants us to set aside only 10 marks for the interview. We think that is a lopsided proposition considering that they want the written test of 300 marks,” he said.
The official said the differences would further delay the recruitment process.
Siddhartha Majumdar, chairperson of the commission, told The Telegraph: “We have received the draft rules and asked our law officer to go through them before we offer our opinion to the department.”
Calls and text messages from this newspaper to education minister Bratya Basu failed to elicit any response.
The SSC in its notice in May last year had announced that all the relevant details regarding the selection process — such as “the date of the written test, method of the written examination to be conducted” — would be mentioned in an advertisement to be published later.
An SSC official said on Friday the commission cannot publish the advertisement until the differences over the selection process are resolved.
The education department is yet to send draft rules on selection of teachers at the higher secondary level to the commission, sources said.
“In a meeting between the commission and the department in August 2022, the SSC chairperson said they wanted to test teaching job aspirants (at the secondary level) on objective questions in a 90-mark paper. Ten marks should be set aside for the interview. There were several follow-up meetings. The education department ignored the commission’s suggestions while preparing the draft rules,” said the official.
At the previous test to select teachers at the secondary level, held in 2015, the commission had tested candidates on multiple-choice questions.
The services of 775 secondary school teachers have been terminated in recent times on the grounds of alleged irregularities in their recruitment.
The candidates’ marks in the selection test, recorded on the commission’s server, did not match the responses captured on the OMR sheets, an official of the commission said.
Then why does the commission want to hold the written test on OMRsheets instead of opting for screening through subjective questions?
“Irregularities can happen in any mode. Running a fair screening system depends on the authorities. Besides, these days in any selection test, the candidates write on OMR sheets,” said a commission official.
Saudipta Das, general secretary of the Collegium of Assistant Headmasters and Assistant Headmistresses, said: “Many teachers have retired over the past six years. If fresh appointments are not made immediately, students will suffer.”
Last updated on 06 May 2023
