WBSSC Recruitment: Full Marks in Written Exam, Yet No Interview Call! Aggrieved Candidates to March to Bikash Bhavan

WBSSC Recruitment: Amidst the protracted delays and legal complexities surrounding teacher recruitment in West Bengal, a fresh wave of protests has erupted. Discontent has spread among job aspirants right after the School Service Commission (SSC) published the written examination results for Class XI and XII teacher recruitment. The primary allegation is that thousands of new candidates have not been called for the interview despite scoring full or nearly full marks in the written test. To protest this ‘injustice’ and demand immediate redressal, they have called for a march to Bikash Bhavan on Monday.

The recently declared results show that many new candidates have achieved enviable scores like 60, 59, or 58 out of 60. Naturally, it was expected that they would be shortlisted for the interview. However, the reality turned out to be completely different, as their names were missing from the list. This has left the candidates frustrated and angry. They question why they are being deprived of the opportunity despite securing top scores if the recruitment is based on merit.

The 10 Marks for Experience at the Center of Controversy

The aggrieved candidates’ main complaint is against the additional 10 marks allocated for experience. They claim that the 10 marks being given as ‘grace’ or ‘weightage’ to experienced teachers and para-teachers by the commission is the primary reason why new, meritorious candidates are falling behind.

A new job aspirant, stated, “The marks for experience are not limited to the 2016 retrenched teachers; it is also being given to para-teachers. As a result, those of us who have performed well in the written exam solely based on our merit are facing unfair competition.” Their clear demand is the immediate withdrawal of this discriminatory rule.

The Protesters’ 3 Main Demands

Ahead of their march to Bikash Bhavan, the job aspirants have put forward three primary demands:

• Cancellation of Experience Marks: To ensure a transparent evaluation of merit, the 10 marks for experience must be scrapped, and a new list should be published.
• Transparency and Publication of OMR Sheets: The OMR sheets of all candidates must be made public to maintain complete transparency in the recruitment process, leaving no room for doubt about their evaluation.
• Increase in Vacancies: The number of vacancies for classes IX-X and XI-XII should be increased to a total of one lakh to accommodate more qualified candidates.

The protesters have warned that if their demands are not met promptly, they will be forced to undertake larger and more sustained agitations in the coming days.

The Education Minister’s Assurance and Statistics

Amidst this tense situation, State Education Minister Bratya Basu took to social media to reassure the candidates. He wrote, “Completing the recruitment process by December is another shining example of our transparent, firm, and committed pledge. Therefore, our heartfelt message to the job aspirants is—keep faith, let there be trust.”

On the other hand, according to commission sources, around 20,500 candidates have been called for the interview, of which approximately 9,500 are new candidates. This implies that new candidates have not been completely excluded. However, the protesters argue that they have been pushed back in the merit list solely due to the technicality of the experience marks, despite being ahead initially. All eyes are now on Monday’s march to Bikash Bhavan and the subsequent steps the commission or the education department will take in response.