In a significant development benefiting protesting contractual teachers in Bihar, the Nitish Kumar-led government announced on Thursday that it would now conduct ‘offline’ competency tests for granting them government employee status, in addition to the existing online tests.
Bihar Education Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said contractual teachers would now have a total of five attempts to clear the competency test—three online and two offline.
“Only those who pass the test will be eligible for government employee status,” he said.
The minister said, “The government has accepted the demand of contractual teachers of conducting offline competency tests also for granting them government employee status. Earlier, there was no provision of holding this mandatory test offline. A large number of contractual school teachers did not have knowledge of operating computers. Keeping this thing in mind, the government has now decided to give them two more attempts for offline competency tests”.
Teachers gives a thumbs-up to the decision
This decision comes as a relief for many contractual teachers who may not be proficient in computer operations, as previously only online tests were available.
Approximately 3.5 lakh contractual teachers in Bihar stand to benefit from this policy change, which aims to provide them with job security. However, those who fail to clear the competency test even after five attempts will face termination from their positions, an official said.
Recently, a delegation of these teachers met with Bihar Deputy CM, Samarat Choudhary, to discuss the issues.
