TET exam conducted in transparent manner, says state education minister

PTI, Kolkata, Feb 10, 2023 :  Bengal education minister Bratya Basu on Friday asserted that the state government is committed to ensuring 100 per cent transparency in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching employees, and urged everyone to steer clear of agents who fleece candidates promising jobs.

Addressing a press meet here, following the publication of Teacher Eligibility Test results, Basu said the West Bengal Board of Primary Education had carried out all due procedures related to the exam in a “transparent, fair and scientific manner”.

“I am repeatedly requesting every candidate to be on the guard and not fall into traps set by any third party, any agent. Do not pay money to any unauthorised person,” he added.

Board President Goutam Pal, who was also present at the meet, said full marks have been allotted to the ones who have attempted four questions that had printing flaws or mistakes in them.

Pal, who announced the results of 2022 TET earlier in the day, said over six lakh candidates had appeared for the test, of which an estimated 1.5 lakh have qualified the round.

Currently, 11,000 posts are vacant at the primary level in state-sponsored and –aided schools, he noted.

To a question about a central agency retrieving OMR sheets of 2022 TET exam from the residence of a TMC leader, Pal claimed that the ones found do not tally with the original sheet that was distributed among the candidates last year.

There seems to be “some vested interests at play”, trying to disrupt the board’s operations, he claimed.

TMC leader Kuntal Ghosh was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, which along with the CBI is looking into a teacher recruitment scam, after OMR sheets were found in his residence.