Bihar govt mulls separate screening for working teachers beyond BPSC exam

The Bihar government will work out the modalities in the light of the working teachers’ demands in the coming weeks, but giving the government employee status to all of them without any screening may not be possible, said a senior Grand Alliance (GA) leader, who was present at the meeting of chief minister Nitish Kumar with leaders of all the alliance partners.

The leader said that while the Left parties insisted that there would be no major financial implications in giving the government employee status to all working teachers, the CM observed that it would be looked into, but made it clear that there should be some screening to separate the wheat from the chaff, when the government was going to appoint over 1.7 lakh teachers through the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) by year-end.

“The teachers working for years would not have to go through the BPSC exam, but a new mechanism would be evolved for them to ensure that there was no discrimination against the deserving ones in the old system. Those who have applied for BPSC could get there directly. The department has been asked to work out the modalities and another meeting with the education department will be called soon. There is no doubt that the CM wants to give the teachers their legitimate due, but not by compromising with the quality. He is positive and therefore, he called the meeting,” he added.

Parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said that the CM listened to all the points of views patiently, but most of the leaders were unanimous on his line of thinking also that the ongoing measures for improving the quality of education and restoring faith in the school system should not stop.

“He has asked the officials to do what best could be done. His pain was also shared with all that the schools should improve both in terms of quality of education being imparted, attendance and overall atmosphere, and the the proactive role of teachers will be important for that. The government is already spending over 20% of the state budget on education. It is after all the Nitish government that appointed the teachers and gave them regular hikes and job security to bring them this far, but they should not allow themselves to be misled to sacrifice the main purpose of education,” he added.

The working teachers, around four-lakh in number and appointed since 2006 through the Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs), have been demanding government employee status without any exam rider and requisite changes in the Bihar state school teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023, under which the government plans to carry out future appointments under a new cadre.

Under the new rules, the BPSC has already moved ahead with its exercise for conducting examinations scheduled from August 24-26 to recruit over 1.7 lakh teachers. Hitherto, the CM as well as education minister Chandrashekhar have stuck to their point that though old teachers would get pay hike, they would not be equated with the teachers recruited through the Commission.

The CM had earlier categorically said that all fresh appointment of school teachers would be done through the BPSC and they would have the government employee status. “The existing lot of teachers will also need to go through the process for upgrade as government employees. Else, they will get hike only,” he added.

In May, deputy CM Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav had reviewed the education department, which is with the RJD for the first time under the Nitish government, and underlined the need for quality in schools, better and hygienic upkeep of buildings and large-scale appointments through the Commission to fill the vacancies, especially in the seriously understaffed secondary and higher secondary schools.