Relief for old teachers in Bihar: CM assures job stability, no transfers for now
Bihar had appointed 3,67,143 teachers through PRIs and ULBs in phases since 2006, as state schools were short of staff when the Nitish Kumar government took over in November 2005.
In a major relief to lakhs of schoolteachers appointed since 2006 through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on November 20 distributed appointment letters to some of them who passed the competency test and announced that these teachers would not be relocated from their current workplaces, addressing their concerns about potential transfers.
Speaking at a ceremony organised in Patna to distribute appointment letters special teachers, Kumar announced that the teachers would continue to remain posted at their current positions even after getting the status of government employees upon successfully clearing competency tests.
In the first competency test, 1,86,818 old teachers passed, while 65,716 teachers cleared it in the second one. Bihar had appointed 3,67,143 teachers through PRIs and ULBs in phases since 2006, as state schools were short of staff when the Nitish Kumar government took over in November 2005. The appointment of teachers was a top priority of the Janata Dal (United) leader when he took over nearly two decades ago.
“It was our government that decided to carry out recruitment through PRIs and ULBs and in 2023 we took a policy decision that the time was right to carry out recruitment through the government. The government paid salary earlier also, but the appointment was not through the government. When we started direct recruitments through BPSC, we felt that the old ones should also get their due and they were asked to take simple tests to get the government employee status,” Kumar said.
The CM was greeted with a loud cheer when he announced that the old teachers, redesignated as ‘Vishisht teachers’, would not be shifted. Kumar said that around 85,000 old teachers still needed to take the competency tests for government employee status. However, the seniority issue of old teachers having worked for up to 18 years is still unclear despite protests by teachers’ bodies. Additional chief secretary S Siddharth said the date of joining of the old teachers would be communicated through a separate notification.
“The government had earlier announced three competency tests, but it was later increased to five. Only two have been held so far. The remaining (teachers) should also take it, as the government was working for their welfare to further improve the educational landscape in the state, which was totally missing before 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.
The CM’s announcement brought a huge relief to 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.
The education minister had announced that the transfer and posting of teachers would be done together for all teachers only after the completion of the five competency tests for parity, and that there could be changes in the policy.
