West Bengal board says TET eligible candidates may reappear for the exam; urges to end stir

Goutam Paul, the president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), announced on Tuesday that those who are qualified may retake the test, which will be held later this year, despite objections from candidates who asserted to have previously passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) and were now looking for employment. Paul added that if candidates had passed the written test within the previous eight to ten years but had not been sent an appointment letter, the government might also consider lowering the age restriction. Approximately 500 applicants who claim to have passed the TET in 2014 are staging a sit-in outside the main board office and declaring they do not want to retake the test.

Paul asked the protesters to end their sit-in, saying that the board understood their situation but was unable to hire anyone who did not make the final list or panel, or if the panel had already expired. We would implement a fair and open policy. Participants in the upcoming recruitment procedure must have passed the TET within the last ten years or such. At a news conference, he stated, “If the government lifts the age limit for candidates who had previously passed the written examination, then those having crossed 40 years may get to appear for the exam again.”

The board president, however, made it clear that the state government would make any final decisions on this subject. The board would ask everyone not to disturb a fair TET recruitment process or act against the interests of other teaching job applicants, he said in response to a query concerning the sit-in. Nothing ought to be carried out for political gain, Paul continued. Notably, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained former board chairman Manik Bhattacharya on October 11 in connection with the suspected irregularities in the recruitment of elementary teachers in the state. Bhattacharya is also a member of the Trinamool Congress, the party in power.

Bhattacharya was removed from the post of chairman on the order of the Calcutta High Court, before which a number of petitions have been moved alleging graft in the appointment process of teachers in state-sponsored and -aided schools.