PATNA: After politics, if anything that remains the key topic of discussions these days around the bonfires, in the political circles or in the media debates, it is definitely Bihar’s education system, that now looks to be slowly undergoing transformation under the present Grand Alliance government which came to power 17 months back.
Education has come into sharp focus shortly after the state government handed over appointment letters to more than 2.17 lakh schoolteachers in the past 72 days — an achievement which the state government claims to be a record in independent India.All these teachers were appointed through tests conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and well, they have every right to say, “Ham BPSC dwara bahal shikshak hain; kewal degree dikhakar naukri lene wale nahin (we have been appointed by BPSC, and aren’t just degree holders).”
They are not wrong. Soon after coming to power in November 2005, CM Nitish Kumar — then heading the NDA government in the state — had made an announcement, ‘degree lao, naukri pao’ (Show degrees and get a teacher’s job). The initiative not only saw a huge number of teachers getting appointed in government schools but also many of them procuring jobs on the basis of fake degrees and certificates — with maximum cases of forgery suspected to be in the ranks of elementary teachers. A total of 3.52 lakh teachers were appointed between 2006 and 2015, as per reports.
Subsequently, the Patna high court took cognizance of the case and ordered a vigilance probe into the matter. While ordering the probe, the high court had observed on May 18, 2015: “The extent to which the candidates with fake certificates have been appointed as teachers in the past decade is a matter of deep concern…The state government has soft-pedalled the issue for the past one decade…We direct the director general, vigilance, to immediately swing into action and verify the genuineness of certificates of the teachers who have been appointed since 2006.” Some nine years after the order, the matter remains still pending in the court.
Perhaps taking a lesson from the past mistakes, Nitish Kumar government this time got the teachers appointed through the tests conducted by the BPSC and much to everyone’s satisfaction, the tests for teachers remained free from any controversies.
Former BPSC member Shiv Jatan Thakur said it was exceptionally a big step to conduct examinations on such a large scale and promptly issue the results. “This is rare for which the chairman deserves kudos, but I don’t think this will improve the quality of education in the state since the teachers were given multiple choice questions in the examination, and not subjective questions to answer. Their merit would have been properly judged through subjective questions,” Thakur said.
Former principal of Patna College, Nawal Kishore Choudhary, described the government’s move as a positive step which would improve the quality of teaching in schools since the teachers were recruited through the BPSC. “Appointment of schoolteachers made earlier (during the previous tenure of Nitish) was mired in controversy since many got jobs on the basis of marks in the certificate which doesn’t reflect one’s true merit when the examination system has turned corrupt. Given this background, the appointment of teachers by the BPSC is a welcome step which is going to transform the education sector,” Choudhary said.
A significant feature of this recruitment drive on such a massive scale is that of the total appointments, some 50% are women. What’s further fascinating, applicants were not only from across the country, from states such as Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, MP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Assam, West Bengal, Punjab, Jharkhand, Haryana and UP, but also from abroad earning handsome salaries. Of the total appointments, roughly 15% are from other states. Quite many people who got jobs as teachers were earlier employed in the Indian army, paramilitary forces, railways, multinational companies and convent/central schools, according to the government.
Prior to recruitment of more than two lakh teachers, the student-teacher ratio in government schools in the state was very poor but the state government now claims it is 35:1, which looks closer to the national ratio of 26:1.
Education has come into sharp focus shortly after the state government handed over appointment letters to more than 2.17 lakh schoolteachers in the past 72 days — an achievement which the state government claims to be a record in independent India.All these teachers were appointed through tests conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and well, they have every right to say, “Ham BPSC dwara bahal shikshak hain; kewal degree dikhakar naukri lene wale nahin (we have been appointed by BPSC, and aren’t just degree holders).”
They are not wrong. Soon after coming to power in November 2005, CM Nitish Kumar — then heading the NDA government in the state — had made an announcement, ‘degree lao, naukri pao’ (Show degrees and get a teacher’s job). The initiative not only saw a huge number of teachers getting appointed in government schools but also many of them procuring jobs on the basis of fake degrees and certificates — with maximum cases of forgery suspected to be in the ranks of elementary teachers. A total of 3.52 lakh teachers were appointed between 2006 and 2015, as per reports.
Subsequently, the Patna high court took cognizance of the case and ordered a vigilance probe into the matter. While ordering the probe, the high court had observed on May 18, 2015: “The extent to which the candidates with fake certificates have been appointed as teachers in the past decade is a matter of deep concern…The state government has soft-pedalled the issue for the past one decade…We direct the director general, vigilance, to immediately swing into action and verify the genuineness of certificates of the teachers who have been appointed since 2006.” Some nine years after the order, the matter remains still pending in the court.
Perhaps taking a lesson from the past mistakes, Nitish Kumar government this time got the teachers appointed through the tests conducted by the BPSC and much to everyone’s satisfaction, the tests for teachers remained free from any controversies.
Former BPSC member Shiv Jatan Thakur said it was exceptionally a big step to conduct examinations on such a large scale and promptly issue the results. “This is rare for which the chairman deserves kudos, but I don’t think this will improve the quality of education in the state since the teachers were given multiple choice questions in the examination, and not subjective questions to answer. Their merit would have been properly judged through subjective questions,” Thakur said.
Former principal of Patna College, Nawal Kishore Choudhary, described the government’s move as a positive step which would improve the quality of teaching in schools since the teachers were recruited through the BPSC. “Appointment of schoolteachers made earlier (during the previous tenure of Nitish) was mired in controversy since many got jobs on the basis of marks in the certificate which doesn’t reflect one’s true merit when the examination system has turned corrupt. Given this background, the appointment of teachers by the BPSC is a welcome step which is going to transform the education sector,” Choudhary said.
A significant feature of this recruitment drive on such a massive scale is that of the total appointments, some 50% are women. What’s further fascinating, applicants were not only from across the country, from states such as Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, MP, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Assam, West Bengal, Punjab, Jharkhand, Haryana and UP, but also from abroad earning handsome salaries. Of the total appointments, roughly 15% are from other states. Quite many people who got jobs as teachers were earlier employed in the Indian army, paramilitary forces, railways, multinational companies and convent/central schools, according to the government.
Prior to recruitment of more than two lakh teachers, the student-teacher ratio in government schools in the state was very poor but the state government now claims it is 35:1, which looks closer to the national ratio of 26:1.