Confusion over tainted and untainted teachers continues as schools await government list.

Kolkata: Some 'untainted' teachers turned up in schools on Saturday, but several others decided to stay away and wait until the state govt publishes the list of tainted and untainted teachers to clear the confusion over who can resume teaching at school.
The 'untainted' teachers on Friday took a stand of not returning to school until the govt publishes the list of untainted and tainted candidates. They have called a protest gathering on Monday at Karunamoyee, demanding the segregated list from SSC. SSC may release the list on Monday. "Why should we go to school when there is every chance of the tainted teachers seizing the advantage?" said Subhashree Jha, the teacher of philosophy at Shyamsukha Girls' School, who lost her job. In West Midnapore, in most of the schools, the affected teachers did not attend. They organised protest marches and gatherings in West Midnapore, demanding the list of tainted and untainted teachers.
The school heads are also in a quandary about the rejoining of the 'untainted' teachers as well as salary submission to the portal as per the apex court order, as they neither have any concrete information about the tainted and untainted candidates nor any govt instruction.
"Two of my affected teachers (a Bengali teacher and a Maths teacher) turned up on Saturday and took classes. Students were also eagerly waiting for them. Though the relief is temporary, we are hopeful about their future because they are excellent teachers and very sincere in their work," said Bhawanipur Mitra Institution Headmaster Raja Dey.
The Oriental Seminary for Girls lost two teachers, one a Bengali teacher and the other a physical science teacher. Headmistress Damayanti Roy said, "Our physical science teacher attended school on Saturday, but the Bengali teacher did not inform us about her absence."
The only affected computer science teacher of Jadavpur Vidyapith came to school on Saturday and resumed his regular classes. Headmaster Partha Pratim Baidya said, "We are also looking forward to the segregated list of untainted and tainted candidates and a govt notice because it is impossible for a headmaster to differentiate between tainted and untainted and proceed with the daily functioning of the school like salary submission."
Teacher-in-charge of Atghara High School, Somnath Halder, said that three of the affected teachers attended school and took classes. Basanti Debi Vidyamandir in Raniganj lost 12 teachers. Headmistress Shruti Ganguly said, "All of the 12 teachers came to school on Saturday and conducted classes." Headmaster of Mithapur Sri Durga High School in East Burdwan, Emdadul Haque Mallik, shared that three teachers appointed through the SSC in 2016 came to school on Saturday and each of them took their respective classes. At Jemua Bhadubala Bidyapith in Durgapur, two affected teachers came to school and conducted classes as well on Saturday.
None of the two affected teachers of Park Institution turned up on Saturday. "Though we were expecting them, there remains confusion about their rejoining because, till now, we do not have any clue who the tainted and untainted candidates are. We are also unable to process the salary because, as per the Supreme Court order, tainted candidates should not get salaries. We are awaiting a concrete govt order," said Headmaster Supriya Panja.
Two of the affected teachers of Kanakanagar SD Institution did not turn up to school on Saturday. "They informed me in the morning that they would not be attending school until the govt publishes the list of tainted and untainted candidates. As a head of an institution, I am also confused because we are in darkness about tainted and untainted candidates and do not have a clear picture of who should be joining as there is no govt instruction as well," said Headmaster Pulak Roy Chowdhury.
Headmistress of Gokarna Nritya Gopal Girls' High School (HS), Baisakhi Chattopadhyay, shared, "Four of the teachers informed that they will not resume classes until the govt publishes the list of tainted and untainted because the 'tainted' may take advantage of this opportunity and return to school. As a head of the institution, I also demand that the list of tainted and untainted should be circulated to schools and there should be a govt order following the Supreme Court verdict so that we get clarity on who should be joining and also about salary submissions." Headmaster of Pingboni High School, Pralay Banerjee, shared, "Six teachers and three non-teaching staff lost their jobs. None of the six teachers attended school on Saturday."
(With inputs from Poulami Roy Banerjee, Sujoy Khanra, Subhro Maitra)
Legal battle so far---
Writ petitions were filed in 2021 seeking individual appointments and alleging illegalities in the 2016 recruitment process.
On April 22, 2024, a High Court division bench set aside the entire selection process. The case then moved to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, on April 3, upheld the High Court order.
The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education filed a Miscellaneous Application for clarification from the Court on April 6.
The SSC prepared a segregated list for 'tainted' and 'other candidates' and submitted it to the education department.
The Supreme Court heard the miscellaneous application by the board and allowed teachers to attend school.
It ordered the state govt to conduct fresh recruitment by December 31. The SSC started preparations to hold fresh recruitment.
There will be minor modifications in the draft rule by the SSC to conduct the fresh exam. This time, candidates might receive copies of OMR sheets, and provisional and final answer keys might be released to make the process transparent. MSID:: 120434142 413 |