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Schools across West Bengal were thrown into turmoil on Friday as over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff stopped attending work, a day after the Supreme Court invalidated their appointments in the 2016 bribe-for-job scandal. The mass exit has disrupted several junior-secondary to higher secondary schools, many of which are currently conducting internal examinations, as per a report.
An HT report stated that the impact was severe at many schools. At Bansberia Ganges High School in Hooghly district, Headmaster Vishal Tiwari said, “Three life science and two mathematics teachers were among those whose appointments were cancelled by the court. It is extremely difficult for us to run the school.” He added that the school had lost 15 of its 41 staff members overnight.
The crisis extended to remote areas as well. In Jalpaiguri district’s Dhupguri, the lone Group-D employee at Ghoshpara Junior High School was among those affected. A local official, requesting anonymity, said, “After the teacher died in May, a teacher from another school was sent on deputation by the district school board. There was nobody to unlock the gate and classrooms on Friday as the Group-D staffer lost his job. The temporary teacher had to do his work.”