Did the First Round of the State Level Selection Test by WBSSC Conclude Smoothly?

Kolkata, Sep 7 (NationPress) The initial phase of the State Level Selection Test (SLST), organized by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), wrapped up successfully on Sunday. Candidates submitted their answer sheets by 1:30 p.m., with special needs candidates granted an additional 30 minutes, allowing them until 2 p.m. to complete their exams. All test-takers were permitted to exit the examination venues post 2 p.m. as a precautionary security measure.

Following this, candidates began to emerge from the centres, holding carbon copies of their question papers and OMR sheets. This carbon copy is a new feature aimed at curbing corruption, ensuring that OMR sheets cannot be altered later.

One candidate remarked to reporters: "The introduction of carbon copies for OMR sheets gives us some hope that corruption will be minimized this time. However, whether the subsequent interview process will be entirely transparent remains to be seen."

Among the participants, around 31,000 hailed from other states, constituting 10 percent of the total candidates.

The exam commenced at noon after the distribution of question papers at 11:45 a.m.

After facing numerous court challenges and persistent protests from candidates, the WBSSC finally executed the SLST exam after a nine-year hiatus.

West Bengal's Education Minister Bratya Basu expressed his contentment with the conduct of the first round of the written exams for teaching positions in the state-run schools.

This round was organized to address the vacancies created by the Supreme Court's termination of 25,753 teaching posts earlier this year.

The second and final round of the written examination is scheduled for September 14. These examinations are essential for recruiting both secondary and higher secondary educators.

After the completion of the written exam at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Basu announced via social media that approximately 3.5 lakh candidates participated across 636 centres for the assistant teacher recruitment exam (Classes 9–10), which was conducted successfully.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all candidates, WBSSC, the School Education Department, and all officials involved. We are committed to ensuring that next Sunday’s examination for recruiting Assistant Teachers for Classes 11–12 is performed with maximum security, clarity, and transparency,” Basu added.

The second round of the examination will take place on September 14, aimed at hiring teachers for state-run schools.

According to WBSSC, the SLST aims to fill 35,726 teaching positions for Classes 9-10 and 11-12, with 23,212 vacancies for Classes 9 and 10, and 12,514 for Classes 11 and 12.

The total number of applicants for both recruitment phases has surpassed 5.65 lakh.

This new examination comes in the wake of a teacher recruitment scandal that has shaken West Bengal’s political scene.

Numerous individuals, including former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool Congress MLA Jiban Krishna Saha, and a significant number of education department officials, were arrested by central investigation agencies for engaging in extensive corruption to secure teaching positions in exchange for money and by manipulating OMR sheets.

These candidates participated in the 2016 SLST exam, the last time the WBSSC held a recruitment exam for teaching positions in Classes 9-10 and 11-12.

The Supreme Court, on April 3, annulled the appointments of around 26,000 teachers and non-teaching staff whose recruitment was based on the 2016 selection process.

The fresh examinations are being conducted following a Supreme Court directive, which also prohibited the previous panel’s (2016) compromised and ineligible candidates from participating in the new exam.

On August 30, WBSSC released, as per the Supreme Court’s order, the names of 1,806 compromised candidates who secured teaching posts through the recruitment scam.

Both the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court have taken a firm stance against the participation of “compromised” candidates identified as having paid for jobs.

Recently, a group of these “compromised” candidates sought permission from the Calcutta High Court to take part in the written examination for the fresh recruitment process.

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