Patna: Bihar’s education minister, Sunil Kumar, has said a decision on whether to conduct the State Teacher Eligibility Test (STET) before the fourth round of the Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE-4) will be taken within the next 10 days, offering a glimmer of hope to thousands of aspiring teachers.
Candidates in Patna have been pressing the state government to prioritise STET before TRE-4, arguing that it would improve their chances of qualifying for teaching posts. Speaking to reporters, Kumar said the demand was “under consideration” and that both options – holding STET before TRE-4 or deferring it until before TRE-5 – were being examined.
“The demand of the candidates is under consideration. An important decision can be taken within 10 days,” Kumar told the media, adding that examinations for both STET and TRE-4 would be held “soon”. A notification on TRE-4 is expected shortly.
The minister also confirmed that the requisition for TRE-4 would be sent to the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) in the coming days, triggering the recruitment process for thousands of teaching positions. He further said that TRE-5 would only be conducted after the elections, and would offer more vacancies than TRE-4.
Kumar defended the state’s record on teacher recruitment, saying 250,000 teachers had already been appointed in a transparent process based strictly on merit. “We recruit on the basis of merit. No kind of irregularity or favouritism can be done,” he said.
