West Bengal SSC releases fresh interview list for Class 11 and 12 teaching job aspirants

KOLKATA: The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Monday published a fresh list of candidates eligible for interviews for recruitment of teachers at the Class 11-12 level, following changes in the OBC reservation structure, an official said.

The WBSSC , however, said there would be no change in the total number of vacancies even after this alteration. A top SSC official told PTI that the list was published on its website Monday evening after applying the revised OBC reservation norms.

The number of vacancies remained unchanged at 12,445 as the reduction in OBC reservation from 17 per cent to 7 per cent has resulted in changes in the subject-wise distribution of vacancies, the commission said. Following legal issues and a change of the state government in 2026, the previous two-tier categorisation (OBC-A and OBC-B) was abolished in favour of a single category.

WBSSC recruitment

The WBSSC also clarified that candidates, having already appeared for interviews, will not have to do it again. The SSC 2016 recruitment process was mired in legal complications. On April 3, 2025, the Supreme Court cancelled the entire 2016 recruitment panel, terming it "tainted and vitiated," resulting in the loss of jobs of around 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff.

The commission, under the then TMC government, conducted a fresh recruitment examination for classes 11-12 in September 2025 and declared the results later that year. However, the recruitment process progressed slowly.

At the higher secondary level, counselling for 21 of the 33 subjects has been completed, and candidates have received recommendation letters. Police verification has also been completed for some candidates, but appointment letters have not yet been issued.

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Reservation issue

The recruitment process was subsequently affected by the issue of reservation. WBSSC chairman Dushant Naraala said last month that the commission was seeking legal advice to ensure transparency in the recruitment process after receiving verification guidelines from the Backward Classes Welfare Department.

The Supreme Court had initially allowed eligible teachers to continue in service with salary until December 31, 2025, and subsequently extended the deadline to August 31, 2026, while directing the state to complete a fresh recruitment process. As the recruitment could not be completed within the extended period, the state approached the apex court again, which extended the deadline for completing the process until May 31, 2027.

Mehboob Mondal of the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum said a fresh merit list needed to be prepared after the interviews, followed by another round of counselling, potentially prolonging the process.

He also questioned the provision allowing candidates to edit caste-related information. Swapan Mondal, general secretary of the Bangiya Teachers and Education Workers Association, described the repeated complications in the recruitment process as unfortunate and said they were affecting the state school education system.