Patna: In a big relief to lakhs of school teachers appointed since 2006 through Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs), Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has announced that they would remain at their present places of posting even after getting the status of government employees upon successfully clearing the competency tests.
Kumar was speaking at a function organised by the education department for distribution of appointment letters to the already working teachers, who cleared the competency test in the first phase to avail the status of government employee, their long pending demand for over a decade. Programmes were also held across all the districts for distribution of appointment letters to around 1.14 lakh teachers who had completed their counselling for verification of documents after clearing the first competency test.
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In the first competency test, 186818 old teachers had cleared the competency test, while in the second one 65716 teachers passed. Bihar had appointed 367143 teachers through PRIs and ULBs in phases since 2006, as Bihar schools faced huge shortage when the Nitish government took over in November 2005 and to make them functional appointment of teachers at the earliest was the first requirement. Despite their criticism, they were the ones who carried the responsibility of state’s school education for large part of the Nitish regime, when the results of the secondary and higher secondary also improved and girls’ enrolment increased.
“It was our government that decided to carry out recruitment through PRIs and ULBs and in 2023 we took a policy decision that now it was time to carry out recruitment through the government. The government paid the salary earlier also, but the appointment was not through the government. When the government started direct recruitment through BPSC, it was felt that the old ones should also get their due and they were asked to take simple tests for availing the government employee status,” he added.
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As the CM announced that the old teachers, redesignated as ‘Vishisht teachers’, would not be shifted, he was greeted with a loud cheer and ovation. The CM said that around 85000 old teachers still needed to take the competency tests to avail the government employee status and they should not be misled.
“The government had earlier announced three competency tests, but it was later increased to five. Only two have been held so far. The remaining should also take it, as the government was working for their welfare to further improve the educational scenario in the state, which was totally missing prior to 2005 like the abject governance failure reflected on other fronts. Today, Bihar has achieved near gender parity in education, as the government’s focus from the outset on girls’ education through a slew of measures has delivered positive results,” he added.
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However, the Chief Minister did not forget to once again reiterate that he was there in the NDA, where he belonged since 1995. “There were mistakes committed twice, but that is past now. Now there will be no more straying. I have been with the NDA all through and taken Bihar forward and I will always remain there,” he added.
The CM’s announcement has brought relief for old teachers, who were jittery over the department of education’s new transfer and posting policy, which was put on hold on Tuesday by education minister Sunil Kumar soon after the Patna High Court gave relief to the petitioners challenging the policy, and new appointment. The NDA teacher representatives had also started voicing concern over the policy.
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The education minister had announced that the transfer and posting of teachers would be done together for all the teachers only after the completion of the five competency tests for the old teachers to prevent any inequality and there could be changes in the policy.
Speaking on the occasion, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said that it was the Nitish government that had appointed the teachers since 2006, gave them regular increments and today made them government teachers. “Be wary of those who shed crocodile tears, as it is only possible due to Nitish Kumar,” he added.
Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said that earlier appointment of teachers was necessitated by huge shortage due to the past legacy and quantity was the focus, while now it was quality that was the guiding force. “Nitish Kumar balanced both the needs with aplomb,” he added.
