151 Bihar primary teachers fail test, sacked

Patna, April 19 (IANS) The Bihar government has sacked 151 primary school teachers after they failed to clear two consecutive eligibility tests, officials Thursday said.

The education department has ordered that they be sacked after they failed two consecutive eligibility tests conducted in 2010 and 2011 by the State Council for Educational Research and Training.

"These teachers have been sacked," said Asutosh, director, primary education, who had issued the order. They were tested for knowledge of English, Mathematics, Hindi and General Knowledge for up to Class 5.

Education officials in various districts have been asked to comply with the order within 15 days.

According to officials in the education department, however, there is a provision for such action in regulations for recruitment of fixed pay teachers in state-run schools.

A few years ago, the state government had sacked 15,000 teachers for having submitted fake degrees and certificates for recruitment in state-run schools.

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