Teachers have a major role to play in the development of students. The former contribute to society by shaping the future of students. The two cannot be separated from one another.
However, the recent events that have unfolded in West Bengal pertaining to a teacher recruitment scam of 2016 has left the fate of both teachers and students hanging by a thread.
West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) was responsible for conducting recruitment exams that would facilitate the process of appointing teachers at government-aided schools.
After a cash-for-jobs scam was reported under the panel which was set up by the SSC in 2014 to carry out the hiring process of 2016, a probe was conducted which led to a recent verdict by the Calcutta High Court. The judicial body has scrapped the job roles of the teaching and non-teaching staff recruited through the process.
Rather than getting into the nitty-gritty of the verdict and under what circumstances the scam took place, one should shift their focus on two sections of the society who are bearing the brunt of it without being at fault.
Teachers who cleared the recruitment process with fair means have taken to the streets now. They are demonstrating in demand of ‘justice’ for themselves. They have lost their jobs even after working hard to secure one and were true to their profession. Some of them may even be employed at private sectors which they left for a job at a government school only because it offers ‘stability’.
However, ‘stability’ goes for a toss when the power of providing government jobs is misused by some.
It has raised questions on the reliability of government jobs. Employment in the private sector comes with the fear of becoming unemployed at any given point of time. But what recently unravelled in West Bengal has ignited fear among those employed with government sectors, too, at least with those employed under the state government.
Cut to the other section, whose future seems to be in doom are children studying at these government schools.
Lack of basic amenities at state-sponsored schools is a long-standing concern. To add to the woes now there will be no teachers to teach them and make them ready for the outer world. This has raised questions on the future of these children.
It is one of the biggest allegations of misconduct that the Trinamool Congress government is facing at the moment. And the onus is on the Commission to save the future of those studying in government-aided schools so that they can land up as responsible citizens and not get pushed to take up odd jobs for the sake of survival.
Henceforth, those eligible teachers who have become unemployed now need to be placed.
Although the High Court has directed the Commission to conduct fresh examinations in a fair and free manner, the teachers are of the view that what will happen if they fail to crack the examination this time. Will they be left unemployed? Will their hard work go in vain?
Besides other things, in this case, responsibility of securing the lives of ‘teachers’ and ‘students’ is on the Commission and only time will speak to how far a government’s body which upholds the principles of being trustworthy, stability and security have been able to protect the innocent in this case.
Additionally, the percentage of aspirants who wish to become teachers in a government-aided school of the state will go down by several notches. And children hailing from the lower strata of the society whose parents can afford to send their children only to a state-sponsored school will hardly find an alternative left to themselves.
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