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Over 10000 teachers from across the state gathered at the Gandhi Maidan, while for the rest similar programmes were organised in their respective districts and blocks. Kumar was accompanied by Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, every minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav education minister Sunil Kumar and additional chief secretary (education) S Siddharth.

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Speaking on the occasion, Kumar said that apart from 268548 appointment of new teachers in three phases, 42918 had also cleared the exam for headmasters, while 253961 teachers earlier appointed through panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs) had also qualified to get the government employee status.

“Now just 86039 teachers appointed through PRIs and ULBs remain to clear a simple exam to avail the government employee status. As a result, the portion of state budget earmarked for education has touched 22% and it would go further up. The girls are also coming forward in a big way to bring about gender parity in education. Earlier government did nothing. Nobody even ventured out after dusk. That is why we had to work a lot for improving education as well as social climate from the scratch,” he added.

Kumar said right from the very beginning, education, especially that for girls, was the main focus of the government and a lot of incentives, be it in the form of cycle scheme, dress scheme, scholarships and financial aid, had been given and the positive impact had been conspicuous.

With employment generation being the primary focus of the Nitish government in this term and a big poll issue since 2020 state elections, the fresh rounds of recruitment would take the total number of teachers and HMs appointed since January 2024 past three-lakh and the total strength to six lakh.

In the first phase 120336 and in the second phase 96823 teachers were appointed in the state government’s quest for providing 12-lakh government jobs and generated over 30-lakh employment opportunities in the state to snatch the initiative from the Opposition, which has been claiming credit for making joblessness a big issue in the poll-bound state.

One of the major benefits of the large-scale appointments is that the pupil: teacher ratio (PTR) in the state, as per the government figures, has now come down to 32:1. The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 aims to ensure PTR of under 30:1 in all schools, while areas with large number of children from disadvantaged groups will strive for 25:1. Bihar has finally reached a stage from where it can achieve the target to focus on quality education.

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In response to a question from Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien in Rajya Sabha on February 7 this year, the Centre had replied that the PTR in 2021-22 was 53 in primary schools, 23 in upper primary, 54 in secondary and 62 in higher secondary schools of Bihar, while 5127 schools were single teacher schools out of 117285 such schools across the country. Now, with nearly three-lakh new teachers, the PTR in the state has improved significantly.

Another achievement of recruitment of teachers through BPSC and giving them government employee status has been improved salary and better service conditions to them, which has drawn better qualified teachers even from the less-paying private schools and set a new benchmark of salary. Earlier, teachers appointed through panchayati Raj system and urban local bodies to fill large scale vacancies in schools post 2005 got a meagre salary and they often protested for prescribed pay-scale to them.

The parliamentary affairs minister hit out at the RJD for trying to take credit for the appointments. “The reality is that as long as there was RJD minister in the department, he proved a stumbling block and it was only after he stopped going to the department, the process, which was planned when I was the education minister, could commence,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, the education minister said that under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, schools had transformed from what it was in 2005 when he had taken over the reins of the state. “With 20% of the state budget going to education, now Bihar has plenty of resources and over six-lakh teachers,” he added.

Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said that the role of teachers was invaluable as, they were involved with human development, which was essential for nation building. “No other profession can contribute in society and nation building like teachers and that is being a teacher begets a lot of social responsibility,” he added.

Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said that Nitish Kumar had transformed a devastated Bihar into a progressive Bihar. “It is a historic day. Today under Nitish government, the number of teachers has gone past six lakh. The CM has also announced to give 50-lakh employment opportunities and government jobs by 2025, which is a big thing,” he added.