Bihar to Adjust Casual Leave for Teachers Who Arrive Late, New Rules Affect 5 Lakh Educators

Patna: In a new directive from the Bihar Education Department, teachers arriving late to school will no longer face salary deductions. Instead, if they are more than 10 minutes late on four separate days in a month, one casual leave (CL) will be automatically adjusted. This new policy, which affects 5 lakh teachers across the state, aims to address the issues surrounding late attendance records.

Dr S Siddharth, Additional Chief Secretary of the Education Department, clarified that late arrivals will now be logged on the e-Shiksha Kosh platform, following rules set by the General Administration Department. “If a teacher or employee is late for four days in a month, one leave will be adjusted according to the regulations,” he said, adding that teachers can be up to 10 minutes late without penalty.

The decision comes after complaints that even a one-minute delay in clocking in resulted in a full day’s salary being deducted. In October, roughly 17,000 teachers in Bihar saw one day’s pay deducted due to late attendance. This new policy hopes to provide a more reasonable solution for teachers, particularly in cases of internet or technical issues. In such cases, principals will now be required to report problems to the Block Education Officer (BEO), streamlining what was previously a lengthy process.

In addition to the attendance policy, the Bihar government has announced a new initiative to introduce computer education for students in classes 6 to 8. Under a bridge course programme, the government has printed textbooks in both Hindi and English, aimed at providing foundational computer skills. These lessons, taught by computer teachers, will begin in the upcoming academic session. Following a successful implementation, the programme will be extended to students in classes 1 to 5, with infrastructure upgrades planned to support the expansion.

Another development is the scheduling of music classes, which will now be managed by school principals. In schools without dedicated music teachers, instructors from nearby institutions will be tasked with teaching music.

The Bihar government has also implemented a new system requiring teachers to register their attendance online. Since October 1, all government school principals and teachers must log their attendance daily via the e-Shiksha Kosh app. In cases of server or network issues, manual attendance will be considered valid. Dr S Siddharth issued a six-page order two months ago outlining this system, which mandates that daily attendance data be uploaded to the portal to ensure smooth operations.

This move is part of the state’s broader push to modernise its education system and streamline administrative processes.