Bihar cancels head teachers’ recruitment following HC order

This decision comes after additional chief secretary (education) Dipak Kumar Singh wrote to the BPSC regarding the need to cancel the scheduled exam in view of the Patna High Court’s order dated December 12.

PATNA: The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Friday issued a a communique signed by its exam controller, cancelling the written test for recruitment of head teachers in Bihar, which was scheduled on December 22.

The Patna high court. (HT Photo)

This decision comes after additional chief secretary (education) Dipak Kumar Singh wrote to the BPSC regarding the need to cancel the scheduled exam in view of the Patna High Court’s order dated December 12.

BPSC had advertised vacancies for 40,506 head teachers. However, the Patna HC bench of Justice PB Bajanthri and Justice Purnendu Singh Bihar termed the Nationalised Primary School Head Teacher (Appointment, Transfer, Disciplinary Action and Service Condition) Rules, 2021 as draft rules.

“It cannot be given effect to until and unless draft rules are framed and published while inviting objections and suggestions, for the reasons that a class of person/persons rights are likely to be affected in the event of giving effect to rules, 2021,” it said, on the basis of the admission made by the additional chief secretary in his counter affidavit.

“It is crystal clear that draft rules have not been published. Therefore, we hold that rules, 2021 is treated as draft rules. At the same time, the state government is hereby directed to treat it as draft rules inviting objections/suggestions and the same may be issued in the gazette and also vide publication so that those persons who are not before this court would be provided an opportunity of filing their suggestions/objections within two months,” it added.

The order came on the petition of Abdul Baqui Ansari and others, seeking a reduction in teaching experience from 8 years minimum to be eligible for appointment as head teachers. They also sought direction to the respondent authorities to frame the rules for the appointment of Urdu TET.

In August this year, barely 3.22% of teachers who appeared in the first-ever examination for the post of headmasters (HMs) in government schools could make the cut in the results announced by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC). Against 6,421 vacancies released for the post of HMs, only 421 could qualify, which means nearly 97% of posts remained vacant.

In August, the Bihar cabinet had cleared a proposal to create separate cadres of head teachers in primary schools and headmasters in the higher secondary schools of the state. At present, a large number of schools are without headmasters and head teachers and the matter has been raised in the Bihar legislature time and again.