Calcutta HC questions use of experience weightage in higher secondary hiring

Kolkata, Dec 1 The Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha on Monday raised the question of whether teachers with experience of teaching the secondary section are eligible for the additional 10-mark weightage criterion when being considered for selection as higher secondary teachers.

A petition alleging gross irregularities in the fresh recruitment of higher secondary teachers in state-run schools of West Bengal came up for hearing before Justice Sinha on Monday, and during the proceedings she posed the question about the applicability of experience weightage.

The fresh recruitment is being conducted to fill vacancies in state-run schools after a Supreme Court division bench in April this year cancelled the WBSSC's entire 2016 panel of around 26,000 school jobs and ordered that while "untainted" teachers would be allowed to participate in the 2025 recruitment process, "tainted" teachers -- those proved beyond doubt to have secured teaching jobs by paying money -- must not be permitted to participate.

Accordingly, in September this year the WBSSC conducted written examinations separately for fresh recruitment of secondary and higher secondary teachers, and the results of both written examinations were recently declared.

However, after lists of candidates qualifying for the interview stage in the higher secondary recruitment were published, a petition was filed before Justice Sinha alleging that some "tainted" teachers from the 2016 panel had qualified for the interview.

The petitioner contended that this would be a clear violation of the apex court's April order barring "tainted" teachers from participating in the fresh recruitment process.

During Monday's hearing, Justice Sinha questioned the justification for allowing teachers with experience restricted to the secondary section to claim the additional experience weightage for selection as higher secondary teachers.

She also queried how teachers with past experience in the primary or upper-primary sections would be eligible for recruitment to secondary and higher secondary posts.

--IANS

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