The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, which was voted back into the eastern seaboard state of West Bengal (pop.91 million) for a second consecutive term on May 19 this year, has yet to fulfil its electoral promise to bring “positive change” in the education sector ruined by persistent government interference during 34 years of uninterrupted rule (1977-2011) of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM)-led Left Front.

Unfortunately, instead of introducing education reforms during its first term in office, the TMC also became infamous for rampant campus violence, political interference, exam malpractices and scams including the TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) scandal which has rendered 150,000 TET-qualified teachers unemployed even as there are 92,000 teacher vacancies in West Bengal’s government schools. And to add to the government’s discomfiture, a report of the School Service Commission (SSC) released in Kolkata on July 20, says that 2,500 government schools statewide have been functioning without principals since 2012.

Vacancies for posts of principal in government schools are notified to the SSC, on the basis of which circulars for recruitment are released. However during the past four years, no such circulars have been issued. According to a SSC spokesperson, recruitment of principals has been deferred due to certain procedural changes, which include reducing the years of work experience required for applying for the post, and redefining job responsibilities of heads of school.

Consequently, an estimated 2,500 government schools in West Bengal are without principals and are being managed by stand-in teachers also obliged to discharge their responsibilities as class teachers. Top-level vacancies have resulted in poor learning outcomes in government schools, most of which are understaffed with 70,000 notified vacancies in primaries and 18,000 for class IX-X teachers. According to Niharendu Choudhury, secretary of the West Bengal Headmasters’ Association (WBHMA), the state’s head-less schools are “experiencing great difficulty in covering the curriculum and in completing increasing paperwork to initiate the latest state government schemes on education”. “The problem of headmasters’ vacancies needs the immediate attention of the state education department,” he adds.

The prevailing precarious condition of government schools in West Bengal is exacerbated by a shortage of 10,000 non-teaching staff because the TMC government introduced changes in the application process for these posts in 2015, with the result that the recruitment process is on hold. According to Swapan Mandol, assistant general secretary of the Bengal Teachers and Employees’ Association, “the TMC government is directionless and has been deviating from its promise to change the education and employment scenario in the state”. “Instead of addressing the problem of huge vacancies in government schools, the TMC government is donating large amounts to its youth clubs bidding for government contracts. This is misleading youth and driving them away from education, employment and development,” says Mandol.

Still celebrating its thumping second consecutive win in the legislative assembly election of last May, it’s education as usual with the TMC government even as discontent among unemployed youth gathers momentum. This is a situation which can turn ugly for the TMC very quickly.

Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)