Kolkata, Sep 7 (IANS) The first round of the State Level Selection Test (SLST), conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), commenced on schedule on Sunday with 3,19,919 candidates taking the exam amid tight security and thorough checking.

Among the candidates, there are about 31,000 from other states. According to WBSSC sources, their number is 10 per cent of the total candidates.

The exam began at noon, after the distribution of question papers at 11.45 a.m. The exam ended at 2 p.m.

The specially-abled were given half an hour more time. No one was allowed to leave the hall until the exam was over.

Following repeated court cases and relentless candidates' protests, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) conducted the State Level Selection Test (SLST) exam after nine years.

The second round of the examination will be held on September 14 to recruit teachers in state-run schools.

According to WBSSC, the SLST is being conducted to fill up 35,726 teaching posts for Classes 9-10 and 11-12. Of these vacancies, 23,212 posts are for Classes 9 and 10, and 12,514 are for Classes 11 and 12.

The overall number of applicants for the two phases of recruitment has crossed 5.65 lakh.

The fresh examination is being held in the backdrop of a teacher recruitment scam which has rocked West Bengal politics. Several people, including former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool MLA Jiban Krishna Saha and a large number of officers of the state education department, were arrested by central investigation agencies for indulging in massive corruption to help candidates get teaching jobs in exchange for money and also by manipulation of OMR sheets.

These candidates had appeared in the 2016 SLST exam, the last time the WBSSC held a recruitment exam to fill teaching posts in Classes 9-10 and 11-12.

The Supreme Court, on April 3, annulled the appointment of about 26,000 teachers and non-teaching staff whose recruitment was carried out following the 2016 selection process.

The fresh exams are being held following a Supreme Court order, which also barred the previous panel's (2016) tainted and ineligible candidates from appearing in the fresh exam.

On August 30, the WBSSC, as per the Supreme Court's order, published the list of names of 1,806 tainted candidates who had bagged teaching jobs through the recruitment scam.

--IANS

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