Teachers' training, annual exams during Holi, Good Friday sparks row in Bihar

Patna: A row has erupted over the Bihar education department scheduling a training programme for government teachers and annual examinations for school students on Holi and Good Friday respectively.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar into the matter.

A circular issued by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) on March 20 stated, "Officials concerned must ensure that all primary school teachers (from classes 1 to 5) who have not attended training session earlier, must attend the six-day Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) training that is being organised by the council from March 25 to 30." The circular has been sent to the principals of all College of Teacher Education (CTE), District Institute for Education and Training (DIET), Primary Teacher Education College (PTEC), Block Institute for Education and Training (BIET) and other officials concerned.

As per the letter, a total of 19,200 government school teachers will attend FLN training at 78 training centres of the department from March 25 to 30.

The SCERT has made it clear that "no leave will be granted" to all concerned during the training period.

The SCERT is the apex academic body in the state for school and teacher education and is a wing of the education department.

The Bihar government has already declared public holidays on Holi and Good Friday and all offices of the state government will remain closed on those days.

Similarly, the department's decision to conduct annual examinations for students below class 8 even on Good Friday (March 29) has triggered a controversy.

Even Robert L Chongthu, principal secretary to the Bihar governor, in a letter to the chief secretary, urged him to direct the department to change the exam schedule of March 29.

Both the SCERT circular and the Raj Bhavan letter to the chief secretary are in possession with PTI.

Despite repeated attempts, Education Minister Sunil Kumar was not available for his comments on the issue.

In a post on X, Tejashwi Yadav said, "As per orders of the NDA government in Bihar, teachers have to be present even on the day of Holi. This has never happened in Bihar earlier... when the entire state is celebrating Holi, teachers will stay away from their families on that day. The CM must intervene in the matter."

NDA की बिहार सरकार के आदेशानुसार शिक्षकों को होली के दिन भी उपस्थित रहना है। बिहार में ऐसा पहले कभी नहीं हुआ कि होलिकोत्सव अथवा होली अवकाश के दिन जब पूरा राज्य होली मना रहा होगा, तब शिक्षक अपने परिवार से दूर रहेंगे। CM को इस मामले में हस्तक्षेप करना चाहिए। pic.twitter.com/R3yi9K8TB8

— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) March 24, 2024

His party RJD's spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary told PTI, "This shows complete anarchy in the state government and the education department. How can the department concerned organise training for teachers and hold exams on festivals? This will certainly hurt the religious sentiments of the people. These circulars must be withdrawn."