West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has asked the district inspectors of schools (DIs) to send ‘urgent information’ on recruitment of teachers in government-aided schools from classes IX to XII because of a CBI inquiry into alleged irregularities in appointments.
A November 18 notice, signed by the board’s secretary, has asked the DIs to send the ‘urgent information’ positively by Monday noon ‘since it is related to CBI enquiry’.
The notice was sent a day after Calcutta High Court appointed a new head for the CBI special investigation team (SIT) that is probing the alleged irregularities.
The notice includes a proforma in which the details have to be sent. In the proforma, the name of the teacher, his or her roll number in the selection test, recommendation, appointment memo and the date of joining will have to be mentioned.
Details of those who did not take the job despite being recommended for appointment have to be sent as well. In such cases, the name of the school and the subject in which a vacant post remains because of the selected candidate's decision to not join work will also have to be provided.
The teachers were selected through the state-level selection test (SLST) conducted by the school service commission in 2016. The commission recommended their appointment, following which the board issued the appointment letters.
“The notice (seeking information) has been sent to the DIs across the state, except in the hill areas,” said Subrata Ghose, secretary of the secondary education board.
The DIs have asked the heads of the high and higher secondary schools to send the reports by November 20.
Chandan Kumar Maity, state secretary, Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses, said the recruitment of a substantial number of teachers might be cancelled following the completion of the inquiry. “In the event of the termination, the students will be the worst sufferers. The fresh recruitment process has remained stalled because of the alleged irregularities. In this situation, if more in-service teachers lose jobs, the students will have to face the consequences,” said Maity, who is also headmaster of Krishnachandrapur High School in Mathurapur, South 24-Parganas.
Swapan Mandal, assistant general secretary of the Bengal Teachers’ and Employees Association, said: “From primary to secondary, the irregularities in appointments have brought a disrepute to the process.”