Nitish Kumar-led Bihar govt appoints 51,389 new teachers, stresses on importance of education

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on March 9 distributed appointment letters to 51,389 teachers through the third phase of the teachers’ recruitment examination (TRE-3) conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).

While 10,000 teachers gathered from across the state in the capital Patna’s Gandhi Maidan to receive the appointment letter, similar programs were organized in other districts and blocks as well.

The chief minister said that apart from 2,68,548 appointments of new teachers in three phases, 42,918 have also cleared the exam for headmasters, while 2,53,961 teachers earlier appointed through Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs) have qualified to get the government employee status.

“Now just 86,039 teachers appointed through PRIs and ULBs remain to clear a simple exam to avail the government employee status. As a result, the portion of the state budget earmarked for education has touched 22% and it would go further up.”

Talking about girls’ education, Kumar said that from the very beginning, it has remained the focus of the government and a lot of beneficiary initiatives like cycle schemes, dress schemes, scholarships and financial aid, have been given and the positive impact of it is clearly visible.

“The girls are also coming forward in a big way to bring about gender parity in education. Earlier government did nothing. Nobody even ventured out after dusk. That is why we had to work a lot for improving education as well as social climate from scratch,” he was quoted as saying.

With employment generation as a key focus, the Nitish government’s latest recruitment drive pushes total teacher and headmaster appointments since January 2024 beyond three lakh, raising the total strength to six lakh.

One of the significant benefits of the large-scale appointments is that the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) in the state, according to government figures, has come down to 32:1.

The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 aims to ensure a PTR of under 30:1 in all schools, while areas with large numbers of children from disadvantaged groups will strive for 25:1.

The union government in response to a question from Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien in Rajya Sabha on Feb 7 this year, replied that the PTR in 2021-22 was 53 in primary schools, 23 in upper primary, 54 in secondary and 62 in higher secondary schools of Bihar, while 5,127 schools were single teacher schools out of 1,17,285 such schools across the country.

Now, with the induction of 3 lakh new teachers, the PTR has significantly improved.

The new recruits are also receiving improved salaries and better service conditions, which has drawn qualified teachers.

Earlier, teachers appointed through the Panchayati Raj system and urban local bodies to fill large-scale vacancies in schools post-2005 got a meagre salary and often protested for prescribed pay scales.

Speaking at the event, Education Minister Sunil Kumar said that schools have majorly transformed since 2005 when CM Nitish took charge of the state.

“With 20% of the state budget going to education, now Bihar has plenty of resources and over six-lakh teachers,” he added.
Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary also praised Nitish Kumar, saying he has transformed a devastated Bihar into a progressive Bihar.

“It is a historic day. Today under the Nitish government, the number of teachers has surpassed six lakh. The CM has also announced to give 50-lakh employment opportunities and government jobs by 2025, which is a big thing,” he added.