97% of Bihar’s 13k teachers flunk test to be headmasters. Say reduce the cut-off

Kedarnath Pandey, president of the Bihar secondary teachers’ association, blamed the question paper for the performance of teachers, saying it was “very tough”, “out of syllabus”, and the teachers did not get enough time to prepare. He demanded the government reduce the cut-off marks

PATNA: Nearly 97% of the 13,000 teachers who appeared for the first-ever examination conducted for the appointment of headmasters in Bihar government’s senior secondary schools could not score the minimum qualifying marks, according to the results announced by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Thursday evening.

The examination was conducted by BPSC after the Nitish Kumar government decided last year to create a separate cadre of head teachers in primary schools and headmasters in higher secondary schools

The examination was conducted by BPSC after the Nitish Kumar government decided last year to create a separate cadre of head teachers in primary schools and headmasters in higher secondary schools to be appointed through a competitive examination. Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who also announced the initiative in his Independence Day address in 2021, hoped that this will improve the quality of education and administration in state-run schools.

The examination was expected to find suitable candidates to be appointed against the 6,421 vacant posts of headmasters.

But the BPSC said only 421 teachers attained the prescribed minimum eligibility marks that a candidate had to score. The minimum score to get into the merit list for teachers from the general category and economically backward upper classes was 40%, while it was 36.5% for backward classes, 34% for extremely backward classes and 32% for SC/ST, women and physically challenged.

The largest number of teachers, 140, who cleared the test, were from the other backward classes.

This means 6,000 posts of headmasters will stay vacant.

One education department official said the result was a reflection of the calibre of the teachers in the state’s schools.

Only 2.8% of candidates cleared the first teachers’ eligibility test conducted by Bihar in 2011 too. The state subsequently had to reduce the bar to find enough teachers.

Kedarnath Pandey, president of the Bihar secondary teachers’ association, blamed the question paper for the performance of teachers, saying it was “very tough and also out of syllabus”. Also, he said the pattern was completely different this time, and the teachers did not get enough time.

Pandey said he will request the government to reduce the cut-off marks to accommodate more teachers else the purpose of holding the exam will be defeated.