3,000 Bihar teachers twice fail test, to be sacked

Nearly 3,000 primary school teachers on contract failed to clear competency tests twice in Bihar and will be sacked following the Patna High Court order, officials said here on Friday.

"The state government will follow the high court order and remove within a week all those primary school teachers who failed to clear the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) twice," said an official of the education department.

The high court on Thursday directed the education department's principal secretary to inform all such teachers who failed to clear the test twice that they will be sacked within a week.

The order came during the hearing of a petition. The high court dismissed petitioner Rizwana Khatoon's request that she should not be sacked over failure to clear the TET twice.

"The education department has to complete its formalities to sack those who failed twice in the test," the official said.

"The government has no other choice but to follow the court's order," officials said.

In 2012, the state government sacked 151 teachers after they failed to clear two consecutive competency tests.

Teachers were tested for knowledge of English, Mathematics, Hindi and General Knowledge for up to Class Five.

"The test was to check teachers' ability to teach. If they failed to clear it, they should either improve or leave the profession," officials said.

The officials said those who failed the test for the first time, will be given another chance, adding that those who failed the test for the second time would lose their jobs.

Bihar has been conducting such eligibility tests for school teachers since 2008.

In 2013, over 10,000 contractual teachers failed a competency test in the state.