In an apparent bid to prevent future controversies, West Bengal’s School Education department has announced a series of reforms for the upcoming teacher recruitment examination. According to a notification on Thursday, scanned images of the OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) sheets will be preserved for ten years, and a duplicate copy of the OMR sheet will be retained by each candidate.

The notification states, “The scanned images of the OMR sheets shall be preserved for ten years from the date of expiry of the panel. The (physical) OMR sheets of the written examinations shall be destroyed by the Commission after two years from the date of the panel’s expiry.”

These reforms follow a Supreme Court ruling on April 3 that upheld a Calcutta High Court order canceling the entire panel from the School Level Selection Test (SLST) of 2016, calling it “tainted” — thus annulling 25,753 jobs. The Court, however, directed the state government to allow age relaxation for candidates previously listed in the panel, enabling them to appear in the upcoming examination.

The ruling had led to widespread protests by teachers who had been sacked in West Bengal, and one notable demand they had was the release of the mirror images of their OMR sheets from their 2016 examination in order to determine who was “tainted”.

Reflecting the Court’s ruling, the notification notes, “Minimum age is 21 years and maximum is 40 years as of January 1 of the advertisement year. The upper age limit is relaxable as per state government norms for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBC, and physically handicapped candidates.”

To enhance transparency, the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC) said it will publish preliminary model answer keys on its official website after the written test. Candidates may submit objections or suggestions within five days of publication, supported by at least two credible academic sources.

The notification further states, “The final model answer key, determined by an expert committee, will be uploaded on the Commission’s website. The evaluation of OMR sheets will be based on this final key.” Candidates may also view their own OMR sheet images online for a fee specified by the Commission.

Finally, the notification clarifies, “There shall be no counselling after the expiry of the (expert committee) and the waiting list.”