The high court has asked the school service commission to file an affidavit while hearing a petition which said the commission has failed to conduct the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) each year to appoint upper primary teachers despite a directive from the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE).

The petition said the commission held TET in 2015 to appoint teachers at the government-aided upper primary schools. No other tests have been conducted since and the posts have remained vacant at schools.

Last week, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya asked the commission to submit an affidavit within four weeks.

The petitioners prayed for direction on the concerned authorities, including the school service commission, to hold TET every year in consonance with Clause 11 of the guidelines for conducting TET.

Sudipta Dasgupta, the lawyer representing the petitioners, told the court that Clause 11 of the guidelines provides for holding TET every year for recruitment in upper primary level (Classes VI to VIII) in secondary schools.

The clause says: “Appropriate government should conduct a TET at least once every year”.

“According to the petitioners, TET was last held in 2015, therefore, there is a necessity to give directions upon the authorities to hold TET immediately. It is also submitted by the learned advocate representing the petitioners that they have not questioned the selection procedure namely 1st SLST, 2016 (Upper Primary) as conducted by the concerned respondent authorities including school service commission... Let affidavit-in-opposition to this writ petition be filed by four weeks from date (November 12),” Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya said in his order.

At present, the commission is carrying out recruitment based on TET held in 2015 after a division bench of the Calcutta High Court and subsequently the Supreme Court recently struck down a barrage of petitions filed alleging irregularities in the recruitment process and seeking a stay on the recruitment.

“The commission is only a body to conduct examinations. The state government will decide when they want the SSC to conduct TET. We will respond accordingly,” Siddhartha Majumdar, the SSC chairperson told The Telegraph.