On Sunday, despite some minor hiccups, almost 6 lakh aspirants took the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) for the employment of teachers at government-aided elementary schools.
Many were wary of the evaluation process because the primary education board’s recruiting decisions based on prior exams have been dogged by suspicions of impropriety.
Nearly 6.15 lakh students took the exam at 1,460 centres spread out over the state, according to Partha Karmakar, deputy secretary (academic) of the ad hoc committee operating the board.
At the entrance to the testing locations, CCTV cameras were mounted, and candidates had to submit to biometric and facial recognition scanning.
Since 9 am, there have been long lines at the centres. The exam began at noon, and the board had previously stated that candidates might enter the locations as early as 9.30am. The board had made it clear that no candidate would be admitted after 11am.
The date of the results’ publishing will be announced by the board in the future. Without any interruptions, the exam was conducted, according to Karmakar.
The board must assure a fair evaluation in addition to conducting the exam fairly, according to a number of candidates, in order to prevent a repeat of the scandal surrounding the prior TET exams.
“We want the evaluation to be conducted fairly. This time, it must not go the way of TET 2015 and TET 2021. Shreya Hait, who took the test at Tirthapati Institution in south Kolkata, said, “Our efforts shouldn’t be in vain.
“There aren’t a lot of employment in West Bengal. We look forward to getting a teaching job. Rohit Das, who took the test at the same institution, stated, “We want the hiring process to be transparent.
“Many of the applicants who wrote past TETs are protesting on the streets since the board appointed undeserving persons,” said Mary Anthony, who took the test at Hindu School in north Kolkata. What will occur this time is unknown to me. However, I will write the exam because we need jobs.
If the applicants were shown to have been hired unlawfully, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court had stated on Tuesday that he would, “if required,” annul the entire panel of candidates who had passed the TET (primary) 2015.
The employment of 42,000+ teachers in government-aided elementary schools would be cancelled if the judge makes such a ruling.
In response to a petition that questioned the method used to nominate these teachers, Justice Gangopadhyay had stated, “The court will cancel the… panel of primary TET if the court finds it appropriate.”
After Sunday’s test, Karmakar, the primary school board’s deputy secretary (academic), stated that the board was “dedicated to carrying out the evaluation in a fair fashion.”
Glitches
One of the problems was reported at the Tirthapati Institution on Rashbehari Avenue in south Kolkata, when a large number of candidates refused to leave the location after the two-and-a-half-hour exam was finished since their biometric scanning had not been done.
Many applicants believed that because biometric scanning was required by the board policy, their papers may be rejected if the process wasn’t finished.
An officer with the board claimed that after finishing the biometric scanning in the evening, all applicants left the location.
Candidates were prohibited from entering with any of the following items: a watch, a camera, a wallet, goggles, a bag, a water bottle, a cardboard box, gold jewellery, ornate handbags.
Bags were piled up on the sidewalk outside campuses at two centres in central Kolkata because the administration had not made any plans to keep the bags under control.
The candidates expressed their displeasure about it.
A senior police official in Kolkata claimed that in certain centres, applicants who arrived after 11am staged protests to get access.
Senior executives contacted the board members to inquire about the possibility of admitting late applicants.
According to officials, the board permitted entrance to everyone who arrived shortly before the inspection began.