Page 23 - EW-December-1-31-2024-merged

Teachers’ jobs in government Unfortunately for would-be teachers, painted the TMC regime with a broad
schools for which a B.Ed degree is under the rule of TMC, TET has been brush of corruption, leading to allega-
mandatory, are highly prized coun- repeatedly stayed by the Calcutta high tions that the party has encouraged a
trywide as they offer life-long security court following charges of corruption culture of cronyism and financial mis-
with minimal accountability, relative- and exam malpractices. management. But it’s a conundrum
ly high salaries (compared to private In particular, repeated TET scams that public outrage against rampant
schools), healthcare coverage and and resultant recruitment stay orders corruption in education and increas-
three vacations per year. Particularly have slowed teacher recruitment to ing violence in West Bengal is not
in West Bengal which during 34 years a trickle. With two TMC senior lead- reflected in recent by-elections in the
of rule (1977-2011) by the CPM (Com- ers — former cabinet minister Partha state in which TMC won all six seats.
munist Party-Marxist)-led Left Front Chatterjee and influential legisla- Political pundits in Kolkata attri-
government, experienced continuous tor Manik Bhattacharya — arrested bute TMC and chief minister Mamata
capital flight which has burdened the by Central government agencies for Banerjee’s enduring popularity in ru-
state with a legacy of mass unemploy- masterminding teacher appointment ral Bengal, to strong regional identity,
ment. scams, TMC has been experienc- control over local institutions, and
Since a B.Ed degree is necessary for ing mounting protests from aspiring populist freebie schemes. Therefore,
writing TET (Teacher Eligibility Test), teachers. In their submissions and despite widespread corruption accu-
passing which is a pre-requisite of reports before courts, the Central Bu- sations, the TMC’s popularity in the
landing a government school teacher’s reau of Investigation (CBI) and En- state appears unlikely to weaken any-
job, desperate youth flock to BAEU forcement Directorate have indicated time soon, and Banerjee is predicted
affiliated colleges after graduation. that the recruitment scam may well to win a clear majority of the 294 seats
Therefore the 599 private and 21 gov- involve bribe payments of Rs.300-400 in the legislative assembly elections of
ernment B.Ed colleges statewide at- crore and an estimated 8,000 teachers 2026, returning to office for the fourth
tract huge interest every year with 96 have been illegally recruited. time.
percent of capacity routinely filled up. These high-profile scams have Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)

DECEMBER 2024 EDUCATIONWORLD 23