Teacher confirmation pleas pile up in HC

TT, Calcutta: Hundreds of assistant teachers in secondary schools across Bengal have moved Calcutta High Court saying they have not been confirmed even after the mandatory two-year stint.

Over 300 such teachers have completed two years in the job but the education department is yet to confirm their services.

"In Calcutta High Court, cases by the assistant teachers of many schools of Bengal are piling up as their services are not being confirmed after two years," advocate Ekramul Bari, who is handling over 50 such petitioners, said.

One of the cases is that of Tanmayee Ghosh, who was appointed by the School Service Commission as an assistant computer teacher at Baidyanath High School at Uluberia in Howrah. She joined the school in December 2013 but is yet to be confirmed.

When Tanmayee approached the additional district inspector of schools in Uluberia, she was asked to wait. In August 2017, the teacher wrote to the school education department. But that too yielded no results.

Tanmayee then moved a petition before the court after which Justice Tapobrata Chakrobarty ordered the education department in February this year to consider the teacher's request.

Bari, who also handled Tanmayee's case, said: "According to Secondary Teachers Services Rules, the services of assistant teachers should be confirmed after two years."

Bari, however, is not sure if the verdict passed in the case of Tanmayee would act as a precedent in the other teachers' petitions.