To ensure efficiency and transparency in service records, the Bihar Education Department has decided to create E-Service Books for over six lakh government school teachers in the state. The E-Service Book will contain details related to appointments, salaries, promotions, transfers, and departmental actions. All academic certificates of school teachers will be uploaded on the e-service book to ensure higher officials can view them online.

Additional Chief Secretary of the Education Department, Dr S Siddharth, has issued necessary directions to all the District Education Officers in the state. The process is likely to be completed in stages, with the first stage beginning by uploading bonafide and accurate certificates when applying for government teachers' jobs.

The move to implement an E-Service Book for school teachers comes after reports that candidates with fraudulent documents and some from outside the state can find school teachers' jobs there. About a year ago, Bihar recruited over two lakh school teachers within 70 days. Another 1.7 lakh teachers are likely to be appointed soon.

"The primary goal of making all academic and training certificates part of the e-service book is so that officials at any level can view them online," Dr Siddharth was quoted by a local news portal.

The Bihar Education Department is also launching a new portal to address all transfer requests by newly recruited teachers. Enough time will be given to the teachers to apply for transfers. Females, differently-abled, and those with severe medical conditions can choose ten panchayats, while male teachers can choose ten subdivisions as their preferred transfer locations. All the transfers will be completed before the winter holidays commence so that when schools reopen, teachers can join their new schools.

As per a new transfer policy adopted by the state government, teachers will be put through biometric-based Aadhaar verification to complete joining a new school. Teachers' thumbprints and photos taken during the online examination will also be verified.

Amid severe scarcity of teachers, the Bihar government initiated contractual recruitment of teachers, with the Bihar School Examination Board conducting the first Bihar Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2011. TET was just one of the several stages, including interviews, document verification, and physical fitness tests, in the appointment of teachers. In recent years, the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has conducted the Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE).

A significant moment in teacher recruitment came on November 2, 2023, when the government handed out 1.2 lakh appointment letters. An additional 96,000 appointment letters were given on January 13, 2024. In 70 days, 2.17 lakh teachers were appointed.

In February, the government announced its plans to appoint 70,000 more teachers. Thanks to these aggressive teacher appointments, the teacher-student ratio in primary schools reached 1:35. Before the appointment of these nearly two lakh teachers, the ratio was a staggering 1:45. In secondary schools, the ratio improved to 1:36 from the previous 1:88. For 2023-24, the budget for Bihar Education Department was Rs 40,451 crore. There are 72,663 government schools and an estimated 3 crore students in Bihar.

Another feather in the cap of Bihar's Education Department was added when the central government shortlisted 17,046 schools in Bihar under the PM SHIRI Scheme. Under this scheme, selected schools are provided a better learning environment through improved infrastructure, teacher training, digital education, and community engagement.

However, the large number of school teachers is often seen as a potential trouble. They can be unionised and made to strike work. Protest processions and police lathi-charge are another enduring image of Bihar. In the past, these teachers showed their strength by taking out protest marches and creating a law and order situation. However, the focus and investment that Bihar school education has received in the last few years is a welcome sign for a state that has long suffered neglect. (IPA Service)