The Bihar teachers’ recruitment scheme has been controversial since the first results were declared. The government kept shifting its goalposts and criteria as candidates challenged the results before the court. There were allegations of recruitment in return for cash and claims that meritorious students were ignored to accommodate candidates for whom canvassing was done. Now, the allegations appear to be true as the latest expose has rang alarm bells through the Nitish Kumar-led administration, said multiple reports.

As per the latest scandal, around 24,000 teachers are the risk of losing their jobs due to fake certificates and degrees. It came to light after the recent counselling sessions held for 1.87 lakh candidates who cleared the recruitment test. During the screening, significant discrepancies emerged risking the candidature while raising questions about the candidates’ teaching credentials, according to reports.

From December 1 to 13 of last year, counselling sessions were held for a significant number of teachers. However, approximately 42,000 teachers did not receive counselling, with over 3,000 of them absent from the sessions. It is important to note that biometric verification was not completed for more than 10,000 of these teachers. The education department has assured that those who missed this opportunity will have another chance after the Chhath festival this year.

During the screening, it came to light that many candidates submitted fake mark sheets. This is in addition to around 4,000 candidates caught earlier with falsified credentials. Alarmingly, approximately 80% of these individuals scored below the necessary 60% threshold on their mark sheets, and 20% were discovered to have falsified several certificates, including those pertaining to disability, caste, residency, and sports.

Now, the government is mulling not only job termination but also recovery of salaries paid to the allegedly fraud teachers. The issues has raised serious question on the selection process.