Court order on Primary Teacher Recruitment in West Bengal

According to the NCTE guidelines, it is mandatory to take the TET exam for the recruitment of vacant primary teachers in the state every year, although the state government has not complied with that guideline. There were no TET exams for six years from 2014 to 2020. But the state government is illegally hiring 16,500 primary teachers. Several job candidates filed a case in the court on this allegation. That case was heard. The state government is once again facing the question of the High Court. Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj summoned the state to report on several issues. The judge directed the state to answer those questions with an affidavit by March 1.

During the hearing of the case, lawyer Ashish Kumar Chowdhury, on behalf of the plaintiffs, claimed in court that the state government was not complying with the NCTC's order to conduct TET in the state every year. The state issued a notification on December 23, 2020 for the recruitment of candidates who sat for the TET exam in 2014 and did not get the job due to their qualifications. This process is contrary to NCTE's guidelines.

The judge asked several questions to the state government's lawyer. He said, can the state government fill 16500 vacant posts without taking TET exam every year? Moreover, those who gave TET in 2014 did not get any side certificate. Can it be recruited without any certificate without complying with NCTE guidelines? The judge then directed the state to answer the question with an affidavit. The state has been directed to answer those questions with an affidavit by March 1.