Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi gives away an award to AN College professor Poornima Shekhar Singh at SK Memorial Hall in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

The state government would carry out teachers’ appointment at the universities after a gap of nearly 11 years.

Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has issued an open advertisement for filling up vacant teachers’ posts.

Education department principal secretary R.K. Mahajan said: “The teacher recruitment process at the universities will open doors for candidates who have been waiting for appointment for years.”

The last appointment took place in 2003 when around 1,000 teachers were recruited. The BPSC has issued an advertisement for filling up 3,364 posts in the rank of assistant professors. The BPSC issued university- and subject-wise advertisement.

Under the subject-wise category, 290 posts have been issued in the psychology department. In political science, there are 277 vacant posts of assistant professors across Bihar. Under the humanities section, English departments have 238 vacancies. In Hindi departments there are 250 posts of assistant professors.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines mandate candidates having cleared NET or having PhD on UGC regulations of 2009.

The UGC introduced the 2009 Mungekar committee report as new norms for getting PhD, as it found that students with the poorest percentage were getting enrolled and were acquiring doctorate degrees in three to five years. Sources said the 2009 UGC regulations aim to check such students, who complete their thesis with unfair means such as presenting the research work of others or preparing research work after copying the contents from the Internet or other medium.

The BPSC’s advertisement also states vacancies in new subjects such as Gandhian studies, Islamic studies, Vedas, grammar, astrology and divinity. Though the vacancies in these subjects are very less, it provides an opportunity for students who have done their masters in such subjects.

While in the Vedas departments there are eight vacancies, in Islamic studies it is four. However, for candidates having journalism and management degrees, the BPSC advertisement has nothing much to offer. In journalism, only two posts are vacant, while in management there are four vacant posts.

The BPSC has also issued advertisement university-wise. Magadh University — the largest one in the state — has 639 vacant posts, while Patna University has 155.

Mahajan said: “Though the advertisement has been issued university-wise, a candidate can apply for any number of universities because there would be a single examination.”

Candidates with 55 per cent marks at the masters-level or equivalent and has qualified National Eligibility Test (NET)/State Eligibility Test (SET) can submit applications.

For candidates who have obtained MPhil/PhD degree will be exempted from NET score. During the selection of candidates, 85 per cent weightage will be given to educational qualifications, while 15 per cent thrust will be on the interview.

Though students have welcomed the government’s decision of filling up vacant posts of teachers after a long gap, some feel that more weightage should be given to interviews.

Satish Patel, a NET-qualified candidate teaching at Patna University, said: “If the selection process gives 25 per cent weightage on interviews it would have been better.”

The assistant professors will be paid in the scale of Rs 15,000-39,000 according to the UGC guidelines. This means, that new teachers will be paid around Rs 60,000 gross per month. The last date for applying is November 20.