WBSSC tightens recruitment process: OMR sheets to be preserved for 10 years after 2016 panel cancellation

The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has issued a notification introducing key changes to its upcoming teacher recruitment process in state-run secondary and higher secondary schools. The Commission has announced that scanned copies of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets used in written examinations will now be stored on its server for a minimum of 10 years.

According to the notification released on Thursday night, the written examination is scheduled to be held in the first week of September. Physical copies of the OMR sheets will be preserved for at least two years. This is a change from the 2016 recruitment process, where hard copies were preserved for only one year.

A senior official from the state education department said that the decision was taken after the Supreme Court recently cancelled the entire 2016 recruitment process involving 25,753 teaching and non-teaching posts. During court proceedings, it was found that the Commission had failed to retain original OMR sheets beyond a year and had not kept scanned images either.

The official also stated that one of the major flaws in the 2016 process was outsourcing the evaluation and preservation of OMR sheets to an external agency, despite the Commission having the necessary internal infrastructure. These lapses made it difficult to verify the legitimacy of selected candidates and contributed to the court’s decision to cancel the recruitment.

The Commission also confirmed that the merit panel created from the upcoming recruitment process will remain valid for one year. However, it has retained the authority to extend the panel’s validity by an additional six months if required. The changes aim to strengthen procedural safeguards and ensure that the recruitment process is backed by verifiable records.