By Shrabana Chatterjee

Copyright thehindu

Job aspirants in the State-run schools staged protest demonstrations outside the West Bengal State Assembly on Thursday (September 11, 2025). The unplanned protests by hundreds of job aspirants caught the administration off guard, leading to clashes between protestors and police officials.

Hundreds of protestors said they had cleared the West Bengal Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) exam in 2022, but are yet to get placed in government school jobs.

They staged protests in two locations including Esplanade and in front of the Assembly. They had no initial plans of protesting near the Assembly which, which caught the police off guard. They changed their course from Esplanade’s Dorina Crossing and headed towards the Assembly where assembling without permission is an offense because it is a high security zone with multiple government offices in the area including the Calcutta High Court, West Bengal Assembly, and the Governor’s residence.

“They are beating us up. Please offer us some relief, we cannot take this torture anymore. We want jobs,” a protesting teacher said amid tears. They urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to listen to their grievances.

Many of them were dragged and put into police vans as officials tried to disperse the crowd. Many were seen lying down on the roads as police tried to de-escalate the situation. The protestors changed their course multiple times making the protests last for hours. Police conducted a campaign and asked protestors not to run to avoid detention.

A huge contingent of police rushed into the area after the situation escalated. Enough force was not present near the Assembly when the protests started. Deputy Commissioner of Police – Central Division Indira Mukherjee was also present on site.

“We have been waiting for more than three years after clearing our exams. They must recruit us in the 50,000 vacant posts in primary and upper primary school teacher roles,” a protesting teacher said.

Many of the protestors were seen carrying posters with former Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s pictures. Many raised slogans and said, “Mamata Banerjee, learn something from the Nepal PM, once the youth gets angry, you will not be able to control the situation anymore.”

Later in the evening on Thursday (September 11, 2025), protests also erupted outside Education Minister Bratya Basu’s residence in the Kalindi area.

Mr. Basu said there are no specific figures for the number of vacant positions in schools available at their department at the moment. “The districts have to send this data. Once the reports come in, we will publish a notification soon,” Mr. Basu said. He also added that their Statewide survey of vacant positions in schools is almost over and the protests do not hold any value any longer because they are set to send out the vacancy notifications soon.

The ‘untainted’ teachers from the 2016 panel of the West Bengal School Service Commission who lost their job after the April 3 Supreme Court order also showed their support for the 2022 TET candidates’ demands. The ‘untainted’ teachers themselves were on the roads for more than five months asking the government to reinstate their jobs but failed to bring any positive action. All 15,803 of the ‘untainted’ teachers are now sitting for a fresh recruitment process and are left competing with more than five lakh candidates for jobs they had already got nine years back.