The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking 'modification' in its order annulling over 25,000 jobs in schools last week, a high-level source in the education department said in Kolkata.
In an appeal to the apex court, the Board's lawyer requested the apex court to permit the untainted candidates to continue in service till the end of the academic year or until the process of fresh appointments to such posts is concluded, 'whichever is earlier', the source said.
The WBBSE submitted before the top court that 11.3 per cent of the existing teachers are to be terminated following the judgement, which would have a devastating impact across the schools in the state.
Altogether 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff of state-run and -aided schools lost their jobs after the Supreme Court found large-scale irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process and scrapped the entire panel on April 3.
Those who were rendered jobless claimed that the reason behind their plight was the inability of the School Service Commission (SSC), which appointed them, to differentiate between the candidates who secured employment through fraudulent means and those who did not.
The WBBSE informed the Supreme Court there are 9,487 high schools under its supervision, of which 6,952 have higher secondary sections 'catering to over 78.6 lakh students' in total.
The board also oversees 6,350 upper primary schools in which students of class 6 to 8 are taught, the board pointed out in its submission, a copy of which was made available to PTI.
"By way of the instant applications, the Appellant most humbly craves to seek appropriate directions/modifications of the judgement to permit, the appointed candidates, not found to be tainted to temporarily continue in various schools, without claiming any equity in their favour until the end of the academic year or until the process for fresh appointments os concluded, whichever is earlier, so that education of the students does not suffer," the appeal said.
The teacher strength of 1,51,568, excluding headmasters, in the state is already strained with most schools relying on a single teacher per subject for classes 5 to 10.
"Services of 17,206 out of the total 1,51,568 teachers - 11.3 per cent of the existing teachers -- are to be terminated pursuant to the judgement which would have a devastating impact across the schools in the state," the WBBSE said.
It cited the cases of several schools badly impacted by the invalidation of the appointments.
Meanwhile, SSC Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar told PTI on Monday the Commission will move the apex court soon to seek certain clarifications about the order and work as guided by it.
Education Minister Bratya Basu earlier said the Supreme Court was not satisfied with the submission of the SSC and it would seek guidance from the top court on this issue.
Describing the entire selection process of 2016 as 'vitiated and tainted', an apex court bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld a Calcutta High Court verdict dated April 22, 2024, annulling the appointments.
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