Kolkata, 4 December (H.S.) : Nearly five hundred candidates who scored a perfect score in the recent examination conducted by the School Service Commission staged a major protest in Kolkata on Thursday, demanding that they not be excluded from the interview list despite securing full marks.

The group, representing fresh candidates, had planned a march from College Square to the State Assembly. However, police stopped them at Subodh Mallik Square, citing security restrictions around the Assembly where public demonstrations are not permitted. The protestors declared that they would not leave the streets until their demands were met.

Prabuddha Maity, one of the demonstrators, said,

“We cannot accept the decision to give ten grace marks to former candidates. They cleared the 2016 state-level selection test and worked as teachers for years. We have no objection to their appearing again for the 2025 exam, but why should they receive an extra ten marks?”

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court cancelled the appointments of nearly twenty-six thousand teachers and non-teaching staff recruited on the basis of the 2016 examination, directing that fresh recruitment be completed by 31 December.

Another candidate, Chaitali Mukherjee, said that despite clearing the 2025 exam, she was not included in the interview list.

“The government should immediately create one lakh new posts,” she demanded.

The School Service Commission had released the interview list in the last week of November for 12,500 vacancies in Classes 11 and 12. The list includes candidates who passed the written exam held in September 2025.

The platform representing the fresh candidates is now consulting legal experts to decide its next course of action.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh