Round one of State Level Selection Test conducted by WBSSC concludes without hitch (Ld)

Kolkata, Sep 7 (IANS) The first round of the State Level Selection Test (SLST), conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), concluded on Sunday without a hitch.

The candidates submitted their answer sheets by 1.30 p.m. However, the specially-abled candidates have been given an extra 30 minutes. They had time till 2 p.m. All candidates were allowed to leave exam centres after 2 p.m., as part of the security measures.

After 2 p.m., the candidates were seen gradually coming out of the examination centres. Everyone had a carbon copy of the question paper and OMR sheet in their hands. The carbon copy is a new addition to this fresh recruitment process which can be used to prevent corruption as this will ensure no one can manipulate OMR sheets later on.

A candidate told media persons: "They have given carbon copies of the OMR sheets. So there is some hope that there will no corruption this time. But whether the recruitment process which includes an interview round, will be completely transparent or not, only the future will tell."

Among the candidates, there are about 31,000 from other states. According to WBSSC sources, their number is 10 per cent of the total candidates.

The exam began at noon, after the distribution of question papers at 11.45 a.m.

Following repeated court cases and relentless candidates’ protests, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) conducted the State Level Selection Test (SLST) exam after nine years.

West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on Sunday expressed satisfaction over the manner in which the first round of the written examination for fresh recruitment for teaching jobs in state-run schools in the state was conducted.

The first round of the written examination for fresh recruitment was conducted on Sunday to fill the vacant posts arising from the termination of 25,753 teaching jobs in the state by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

The second and last round of the written examination will be conducted on September 14. Written examinations are conducted for the recruitment of both secondary and higher secondary teachers.

Shortly after the written examination was over at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Basu issued a social media statement claiming that 3.5 lakh candidates appeared across 636 centres for the assistant teacher recruitment examination (Classes 9–10), which was conducted successfully.

“My sincere congratulations to all candidates, WBSSC, the School Education Department, and all officials involved. The entire administration also looks forward to extending all possible support to ensure that next Sunday's examination for recruiting Assistant Teachers for Classes 11–12 is to be conducted with utmost security, clarity, and transparency,” Basu added.

The second round of the examination will be held on September 14 to recruit teachers in state-run schools.

According to WBSSC, the SLST is being conducted to fill up 35,726 teaching posts for Classes 9-10 and 11-12. Of these vacancies, 23,212 posts are for Classes 9 and 10, and 12,514 are for Classes 11 and 12.

The overall number of applicants for the two phases of recruitment has crossed 5.65 lakh.

The fresh examination is being held in the backdrop of a teacher recruitment scam which has rocked West Bengal politics.

Several people, including former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool Congress MLA Jiban Krishna Saha and a large number of officers of the state education department, were arrested by central investigation agencies for indulging in massive corruption to help candidates get teaching jobs in exchange for money and also by manipulation of OMR sheets.

These candidates had appeared in the 2016 SLST exam, the last time the WBSSC held a recruitment exam to fill teaching posts in Classes 9-10 and 11-12.

The Supreme Court, on April 3, annulled the appointment of about 26,000 teachers and non-teaching staff whose recruitment was carried out following the 2016 selection process.

The fresh exams are being held following a Supreme Court order, which also barred the previous panel’s (2016) tainted and ineligible candidates from appearing in the fresh exam.

On August 30, the WBSSC, as per the Supreme Court’s order, published the list of names of 1,806 tainted candidates who had bagged teaching jobs through the recruitment scam.

Both Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court have taken a strong stand against the appearance of the “tainted” candidates, identified as paying cash for jobs.

Recently, a group of “tainted “candidates, whose names appeared in the WBSSC list published last week, approached the Calcutta High Court for permission to appear for the written examination for the fresh recruitment process.

However, first a single-judge bench and then a division bench of the Calcutta High Court dismissed their petitions.

--IANS

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