Bengal School Job Aspirants March To Bikash Bhavan, Slam WBSSC Grace Marks Policy As Unfair

Kolkata: A section of school job aspirants, who appeared for recent exams conducted by WBSSC, staged a demonstration in Salt Lake on the eastern fringes of Kolkata on Thursday, demanding fair recruitment in government-aided schools.

They gathered at Karunamoyee Metro station and took out a one-km march to Bikash Bhavan, the state education department headquarters.

The agitators, who appeared for the State Level Selection Test (SLST) conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission on September 7 and 14, were demanding the abolition of the provision of awarding 10 extra marks to untainted teachers who lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order and have participated in the fresh exams.

The Supreme Court ordered the sacking of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff at state-aided schools, describing the 2016 recruitment process as “vitiated and tainted”.

The protesters claimed the 10-grace-marks provision would deprive new candidates and violate the norms that ensure a level playing field for all aspirants.

They also demanded the immediate release of vacancies in the schools.

Meanwhile, non-teaching staffers, who lost their jobs in the recruitment controversy, said they have been facing difficulties without a salary for the past six months.

The job aspirants said they want to meet the state education minister to highlight their objections to the recruitment notification.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)