Certificate probe: Jobs of 90,000 Bihar teachers at risk as state has no data

As many as 90,000 teachers in Bihar risk losing their jobs since the state government has no record of their degree certificates or the merit list on the basis of which they were appointed. The pandora's box was opened after the Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) began scrutinizing the credentials of the teachers employed between 2006 and 2015.

Patna: As many as 90,000 teachers in Bihar risk losing their jobs since the state government has no record of their degree certificates or the merit list on the basis of which they were appointed. The pandora's box was opened after the Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) began scrutinizing the credentials of the teachers employed between 2006 and 2015.

State education minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary during a review meeting headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday (February 3) reported that the state had no digital record of the appointments. Credentials of more than 1.10 lakh teachers have been under scrutiny of the VIB since 2014 after a Patna High Court direction. Till December 2021, the Education Department had failed to provide details on the degrees of over 1.10 lakh teachers of a total of 3.52 lakh appointed on contract basis in the first phase of teachers’ appointment after 2006.

VIB was able to restore a large number of fake certificates during their investigation. Of the teachers under scrutiny, more than 10 thousand have either resigned from the job or have died. Around 90,000 remaining teachers were asked to upload their documents on the website as directed by the education department last year. However, the state government has now reported that they have no records or merit lists. In such a scenario, the verification of the documents has become difficult, putting the jobs of the teachers at risk.

Earlier by July 2020, the teachers were given a "last chance" to make upload their certificates on the website. Due to some technical glitch, the website was again opened for a week in August 2021, so that teachers can complete the process of uploading their certificates. Despite this, many of them failed to submit the documents.

Commenting on the massive issue, education minister Chaudhary said, "Only through the merit list of documents uploaded on the portal and the planning folder, it will be proved whether the documents given by the teachers were authentic or not. After bringing this to the notice of the High Court, there is a chance these teachers will be terminated in the absence of proof of their qualifications," he said. However, he added, the authorities are considering giving them a second chance to submit the documents. The deadline in this regard will be decided soon, he said.