Bihar drafts rules to give govt employee status to working teachers through test

Bihar’s education department has uploaded the draft of the Bihar School Specialist Teachers Rules, 2023, which will pave the way for the absorption of teachers appointed since 2006 through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local bodies (ULBs) as state government employees.

The new rules will bring them at par with the teachers appointed through the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) under the Bihar State School Teachers (Appointment, Transfer, Disciplinary Proceedings and Service Conditions) Rules, 2023. The new rules will come into force from the date of issuance of notification.

The teachers employed at various tiers of local bodies shall stand merged as a single cadre at the district level from the date of the promulgation of these Rules, provided they pass in the competency test conducted by the education department. They shall constitute a separate cadre whose service conditions shall henceforth be regulated by these rules.

“The department, through an agency of its choice, will conduct a competency test for all the Specialist Teachers, to be conducted over a period of one year from the date of promulgation of the rules. Three attempts to pass the competency test shall be given to each teacher. Those teachers who fail to clear the competency test in the 3rd attempt shall be removed from the service,” says the draft, on which suggestions will be sought over the next one week.

The draft rules have clearly laid down the criteria for seniority and promotion of Specialist Teachers. The seniority list for them will be maintained separately subject wise for primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary at the district level. The basic salary will vary from ₹25,000 to ₹32,000 depending on different grades, besides Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance, Medical Allowance and City Transport Allowance, as per the prevailing rates of the State Government.

The Head Teacher (Class I to V) and Headmaster for Higher Secondary School shall be appointed by competitive examinations conducted as per relevant respective rules. The Specialist Teachers shall normally be transferred within the district, but they can also be transferred outside the district on request or on administrative grounds.

The government had hinted about a screening mechanism to be adopted on August 6 last after chief minister Nitish Kumar held a meeting with all the Grand Alliance (GA) parties to discuss the demand of teachers working since 2006. HT had also reported it the same day that the teachers working for years would not have to go through the BPSC exam, but a new screening test would be conducted for them to ensure that there was no discrimination against the deserving ones in the old system.

The CM had asked the department to work out the modalities and do what best could be done. With the BPSC all set to announce the results for the recruitment of around 1.7 lakh teachers within a few days, the department has also cleared separate rules for the already working teachers to fulfil their old demand.

The working teachers, around 3.5 lakh in number and appointed since 2006, had been demanding government employee status without any exam rider and requisite changes in the Bihar state schoolteachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023, under which the government plans to carry out future appointments under a new cadre. They had also carried out agitation in support of their demands.