SSC uploads 22L OMR sheets from 2016 teacher recruitment test

Kolkata: The West Bengal School Service Commission on Saturday uploaded scanned copies of all 22 lakh OMR sheets from the 2016 state-level selection test for assistant teachers at secondary and higher secondary level — retrieved from the CBI — irrespective of whether candidates were appointed, waitlisted or disqualified.The upload fulfils a long-standing demand of teachers who lost their jobs following the Supreme Court's April 3, 2024 order. Over two years of meetings between agitating teachers and the then state govt, the demand was repeatedly raised — and repeatedly deferred, with the govt citing the need for legal advice. The commission had previously only published a list of tainted candidates.The timing — coinciding with the swearing-in of the new BJP govt — drew pointed questions from the teachers' movement."The commission has uploaded the full list today, but whether this will make any remarkable change for those who lost their jobs remains to be seen," said Mehebub Mandal, a prominent face of the agitation. Commission officials declined to comment. In a separate notice, the commission said it would shortly publish OMR sheets of staff recruited from the 2016 panel.