‘Let them resign’: Supreme Court dismisses plea against competency test for teachers in Bihar

Teachers help build the nation and should be open to upgrading their skills or willing to quit, said the Supreme Court on Thursday refusing to entertain a petition by local body teachers in Bihar opposing a competency test prescribed by the state for improving quality of education in rural schools. But If they wish to serve the students, let them take the competency examination.” The court was hearing a petition filed by two groups of teachers employed in Panchayat-run schools in the state who challenged the Bihar School Exclusive Teachers Rules, 2023 requiring them to take the competency exam. The Patna high court while upholding the 2023 rule had said that this was a good opportunity for the Niyojit teachers to get parity with existing state government teachers. The HC held that the test has been introduced “with the avowed objective of motivating the teachers to continue educating themselves and achieve a standard equivalent to that of the newly recruited teachers under the State School Teachers Rules 2023.” Before the HC, the state government argued that the change in policy was necessary to ensure quality of teaching and through it, substantially improve the quality of education in the state.