Most of 1 Lakh New Teachers Bihar to be Posted in Rural Schools

Patna: Most of the newly recruited schoolteachers in Bihar will likely to be posted ingovernment schools in rural areas in to improve thequality of education.

After the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) declared
results of nearly 1,20,000 candidates who took the exam last month, the state government decided to give priority to rural schools.

“The decision was taken on the basis of reports from all districts that revealed the worst student-teacher ratio in rural schools compared to in urban areas. Therefore, the education department decided to allot mostof the new teachers to the rural belt,” a senior department official told NewsClick.

According to official data received by the department recently, there are a large number of vacancies for teachers for classes 9, 10, 11 and 12th in rural schools. The situation is not different even in primary or middle schools.

The department will likely post few newly recruited teachers in urban schools where the student-teacher ratio is alarming.“Newteachers will beallotted such schools in urban areas where the ratio in less on the recommendation of the district educationofficer.”

Interestingly, the department uses a software to allotteachers to schools. Data on student-teacher ratio, subject and class-wise vacant postshave been uploaded in the software.

“The software will automaticallyallot new teachers to schools having no or fewer teachers. Most such schools are in rural areas,” the official added.

Ironically, a majority of new teachers are keen for postings in urban schools for better facilities, including residential, market andcommunication.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar is set to hand out provisional appointment letters to more than 25,000 successful candidates at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on Thursday after the completion of counselling. Ahead of the much-hyped appointment letter distribution, the stategovernment has announced plans to recruit more than 100,000teachers in itssecondrecruitment phase.

The 15-day training of the new teachers would start from Saturday. As per the BPSC, of the 1,70,000 school vacancies, 1,20000 candidatesqualified, leaving 50,000 seats vacant.

To fulfil its promises before the Lok Sabha polls, the government has started recruiting teachers through the BPSC, which is expected to publishthe remaining results.

Kumar has dismissed allegations of irregularities of opposition BJP as “useless and nonsense”.