Bihar annual exams, teachers' training during Holi, Good Friday spark row

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.

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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.