THE Supreme Court recently annulled 25,000 appointments to government-run schools in West Bengal, upholding charges that there had been cheating in a selection examination and that bribes had also been paid for appointments.
Of those whose jobs were gone, 17,000 were teachers who had been in service for 10 years — the time it took for the case to wind its way through the courts. In all, 19,000 schools were impacted as the rusticated teachers went overnight from classrooms to the streets, holding demonstrations and asking to be reinstated.