The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has been playing with the lives of candidates, who have cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014.
Despite qualifying for the exam 8 years ago, they did not receive appointment letters to date. The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) has now asked the 500-odd candidates to reappear for the TET, claiming that the tenure of the appointment panel of 2014 had expired.
Miffed by the apathy of the State government, the candidates took to a sit-in-protest from October 17 onwards, outside the office of WBBPE in the Salt Lake area of Kolkata. They have demanded the immediate disbursement of their appointment letters.
In a bid to curb dissent, Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was imposed in the area. On the intervening night of October 20-21, the fasting candidates were roughed up, assaulted and detained by the police.
West Bengal | Police detained TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) 2014 qualified students, who were protesting against the state govt outside the education board’s office in Kolkata’s Salt Lake
— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2022
“We will fight for them in court tomorrow,” says BJP state secretary Priyanka Tibrewal pic.twitter.com/SdsNkRuUyx
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari took to social media to share visuals of the State’s suppression of genuine demands by TET-qualified candidates.
He tweeted, “WB’s current situation is alarming. Mamata Police applied brute force on agitating candidates of the Teacher Eligibility Test 2014 candidates at Salt Lake to forcefully end their legitimate sit-in demonstration near the State Primary Education Board Office. WB or Hitler’s Germany?”
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) October 20, 2022
Protestors demand immediate appointment letters and want an end to 8 years of lull
While speaking to The Indian Express, a protestor named Paromita Pal said, “We do not want to appear in fresh exams as announced by the state education department. We should be appointed in state-run and state-aided schools as per the previous merit list.”
“We don’t want to be a part of the new requirement process. We want appointment letters immediately. Our movement will continue till we get it,” she emphasised.
Another candidate said, “There were immense irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in the primary section. How will we know that we were not unfairly rejected in the previous recruitment process to suit the interest of those who scored less? Therefore, there is no question of turning back.”
Reportedly, a panel was constituted to interview and appoint the qualifying candidates. Despite appearing for the interviews, the candidates were never given appointment letters. To add salt to the wound, WBBPE has now claimed that the tenure of the panel has expired.
West Bengal adamant on fresh recruitment
In a statement on October 18, the President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education reiterated that the protesting candidates will have to reappear for TET to be held this year.
Goutam Pal, WBBPE President, claimed that the protestors had failed the interviews twice and hence could not secure appointments as teachers. He said that the West Bengal government might provide ‘age relaxation’ to the agitating candidates but they will have to appear in the fresh recruitment process.
Pal added, “Those having qualified the TET in the past 10 years or so are eligible to participate in the future recruitment process. If the government relaxes the age limit for candidates who had qualified the written test earlier, then those having crossed 40 years may sit for the exam again.”
“The board would request the candidates not to disrupt a fair TET recruitment process or go against the interests of other job aspirants. I will urge the people who are instigating the candidates not to disrupt a fair recruitment process,” he concluded.
