The agitating teachers of government-aided secondary and higher secondary schools across the state, who have been rendered jobless after the Supreme Court verdict on 3 April, want permanent jobs and not any temporary relief.

While reacting to a fresh directive issued by the apex court on Thursday, the protesting ‘eligible’ teachers wanted that they should be retained in the same post of assistant teachers till their retirement age 60.

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The apex court today allowed ‘eligible’ school teachers in Classes IX to XII to continue in their posts with the condition that the West Bengal government will complete the fresh recruitment process by 31 December this year.

“We are inclined to accept the prayer in the present application in so far as it relates to the assistant teachers for Classes IX, X, and XI-XII subject to following conditions. Advertisements will be published on or before May 31 and exams and the entire process to be completed by December 31,2025,” Sanjeev Khanna, Chief Justice of India ordered today.

The invalidated Group C and Group D employees of these schools will not be reinstated, according to the order.

The CJI said: “We will only grant extension to the teachers and not to the Group –IV candidates. We are not inclined to accept prayer as far as Group C and D employees are concerned, as the number of established tainted candidates is substantially high in number,” the CJI ordered.

With the directive of the SC, untainted teachers out of 25,752 jobless candidates, have been reinstated till the end of this year. But a large number of these untainted as well as eligible teachers felt that today’s order is nothing but a temporary relief to them. They are not completely satisfied with it.

They want a permanent solution to the ongoing fiasco.

Some of them said that they want to serve state government schools till they retire at 60. They would announce their future course of agitation after discussing the issue among themselves.

Chinmoy Mondal, convenor of the Jogya Sikshak Sikshika Adhikar Mancha, said: “The directive of the SC seems a temporary relief for us because we can continue in our posts till 31 December and will get salary till then. But it’s not the permanent solution. We may move the SC for review petition and a decision in this regard will be taken soon.”

The apex court cancelling the panel of 2016 had upheld the dismissal of the teaching and non-teaching staff recruited to government-aided schools in the city and districts, citing manipulation and a cover-up, landing the Trinamul Congress government in a huge embarrassment one year ahead of Assembly polls scheduled in 2026 in the state.

The state education minister Bratya Basu urged the teachers to join work. While reacting to the SC court directives Mr Basu told reporters, “I think you (teachers) should be concerned with the students and come back to your respective schools.

“The court directives look positive and from the beginning I have been asking the jobless teachers that they still have adequate space to think positive. Don’t be impatient and the chief minister herself is with you to bring back your social respect as teachers,” Mr Basu said.

He also said that the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) would release the list of tainted and untainted candidates on 21 April.”