Approximately 4,000 individuals, whose teaching appointments were invalidated by the Calcutta High Court due to irregularities in the recruitment process, gathered at Shahid Minar Ground in Kolkata on Tuesday.

A delegation of five individuals who lost their jobs also met with officials of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education at its headquarters to discuss the situation.

According to a board official, “The meeting lasted for over two hours. We listened to their concerns. While we sympathize with their situation, we must adhere to the high court’s ruling.”

Azharuddin Rocky, a spokesperson for the dismissed teachers, expressed to reporters, “We lost our jobs through no fault of our own. We qualified for the exams based on merit, passed the written and oral tests, and taught classes without any issues being raised against us during our tenure.”

“If approximately 5,000 candidates were involved in unfair practices according to the CBI investigation, why should we suffer?” he questioned.

On April 22, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court nullified 25,753 appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff in state government-sponsored and aided schools, declaring the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test (SLST), 2016, conducted by the School Service Commission (SSC), invalid.

Rocky, who began teaching at a secondary school in southern West Bengal in 2018, mentioned that the dismissed teachers are individually approaching the Supreme Court seeking justice.

Soma Barik, another dismissed teacher from Purba Bardhaman district, shared her story, saying, “I left my job at a private English-medium school in 2017 after securing a government job in a secondary school in my district.”

“I couldn’t afford to pay bribes… I worked hard to prepare for the exam. Now, I’m uncertain about the future of my family. I have three dependents, including my elderly parents and teenage brother.”

Despite the challenges, she expressed, “We trust the court to restart the process. However, it’s exhausting to go through it all again. Will justice prevail if I succeed again? Moreover, time isn’t on my side.”

Source: PTI

Also read: Bengal teacher recruitment scam: Schools face teacher crisis after court order