Patna High Court stays the termination of the non-permanent teachers, decries the education system of Bihar

Vinod kakumanu
March 2, 2020, 12:09 p.m.

A strong reprimand came from the Patna High Court concerning the education system in Bihar. The court went so far as to say that the education system in Bihar is spoiling the future generation. It said the possibility of improvement will arise only if it becomes mandatory for the government officials to send their own children to the government schools and colleges.

The remarks were made while adjudicating on a case concerning the recruitment of non-permanent teachers in Purnia district. The court stayed the cancellation of the recruitment of the non-permanent teachers in the district.

The petition, filed by the affected teachers, was being heard by Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay. He critically reflected on the state education system in Bihar, characterizing it as “derailed” and said it is for the government to take measures to ensure availability of quality education for the children hailing from the families with lesser means.

The court order was effectively a criticism directed at the state of affairs, "The manner in which petitioners have been terminated manifests that in the state of Bihar, rule of law is only a slogan not to be acted upon. What is worrying this court is not the manner in which petitioners have been condemned and their service has been discharged without compliance of principle of natural but the resultant effect of such arbitrary action," it read.

The court considered the recruitment of the guest teachers necessary in the light of what it termed as a “crying need" of teachers in the system.

The court order went on to state that, "the system cannot be improved so long the officials are allowed to educate their wards outside the State of Bihar. The system can only be improved if all the officials of the State are compelled to keep their wards in the Government run Educational Institutions; only then the officials will see the upliftment of the standard of education."

The court stated that the termination of the guest teachers, which was appealed against by the teachers, is inimical to the interest of the students studying in the government schools and called it irresponsible.