Partha promises SSC candidates of getting interview calls

West Bengal Education minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday said those candidates who have qualified in the School Service Commission (SSC) examination and have the requisite qualification will get a call for an interview in due course. After meeting the representatives of the SSC candidates at his office, Chatterjee told reporters, "I listened to what they said. They need not feel scared." "Those having requisite qualifications will certainly be called for interview in due course of time," the minister said adding he has asked the West Bengal School Service Commission to give him a detailed report on the issue.

Asked about the threat by a section of SSC candidates to continue their sit-in near Kolkata Press Club, which began on last Thursday, Chatterjee shot back, "Let them do whatever they wish." The agitating SSC candidates, who alleged not being recruited as teachers in classes 9-12 despite having the requisite qualifications, first met the minister on March 2. They had vowed to continue the stir unless there were some concrete assurances about filling up some vacancies.

About Tuesday's agitation by a group of teachers of Shishu Shiksha Kendras (SSK) for regularisation of their service and higher pay scales, the minister said, "The government is sympathetic to their issue." The SSKs, in panchayat areas, had been set up to impart education to children not having access to any existing primary school, "I will bring to the notice of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee both SSC and SSK issues. But one thing you must take note of those associated with SSKs are not formal teachers," Chatterjee said.