New Education Minister Dipak Barman Prioritizes Teacher Recruitment
Kolkata: Dipak Barman, the newly appointed school education minister of West Bengal, has outlined teacher recruitment as his primary objective. Addressing the media, he emphasized a comprehensive transformation of the state's education system, including syllabus revisions and restoring the past glory of government-run schools. However, he cautioned that these changes would take time, noting that he does not possess "Aladdin's magic lamp."
When questioned about teacher recruitment, Barman stated, "We will definitely conduct a teacher recruitment drive shortly. We are well aware that several teaching positions are currently vacant and need to be filled."
The school education department has faced numerous challenges in recent years, including recruitment hurdles and a cash-for-jobs scam that led to the imprisonment of former education minister Partha Chatterjee. Additionally, approximately 26,000 teachers and staffers from the 2016 recruitment panel lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order due to corrupt practices.
Barman acknowledged the difficulty of restoring public trust, saying, "I feel that I have been given the easiest department to run because, considering the way the previous government maligned this department, no one could do worse. I believe the most difficult task now is to regain public trust. People no longer believe that jobs are given based on merit; they have stopped believing that teachers want to build a new generation with honesty and courage. Students have forgotten that education is the ultimate pathway to establishing oneself in society. Our biggest challenge is to regain this trust."
A fresh recruitment process had been initiated by the previous government, but the administration changed midway. While Barman did not provide specifics, he hinted that the recruitment process would be expedited.
