Patna: Police lathicharged teacher aspirants in Patna on Friday during a protest march demanding the release of the Teacher Recruitment Examination-4 (TRE-4) notification. Candidates were chased and beaten on roads near J P Golambar with several sustaining head injuries. A woman aspirant was also allegedly trampled during the police action.Around 5,000 aspirants had marched from Patna College towards the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) office demanding immediate release of the recruitment notification. Police stopped them by putting up barricades at J P Golambar. However, protesters continued their demonstration and allegedly attempted to break the barricades, following which police resorted to lathicharge without using water cannons or tear gas.“We are future teachers. They are beating us like goons,” said a protester.Scenes of chaos were witnessed after the lathicharge with slippers scattered on roads and injured aspirants seeking help. One candidate’s clothes were soaked in blood up to the chest.Student leader Dilip alleged candidates were being misled over the recruitment process. “BPSC Exam Controller claimed in an April 16 podcast that the TRE-4 advertisement would be out in 3-4 days and applications would start April 25-26. It’s May 8 now and no notification yet,” Dilip said.Aspirants accused the govt of delaying recruitment despite repeated assurances. “We are preparing by mortgaging land, but the govt is cheating us. New education minister Mithilesh Tiwari should act soon,” candidates said.TRE-4 will fill 46,595 posts. Although BPSC received approval for the recruitment in Feb, it was later withdrawn by the education department and included in the annual calendar. According to the tentative schedule, examinations are expected to be held from Sept 22 to Sept 27, 2026, while results are likely in Nov 2026. However, the official notification is yet to be released, fuelling resentment among aspirants.After assuming charge, education minister Mithilesh Tiwari said, “We have to change Bihar together. The problems of those protesting will be resolved soon. I will sit with department officials and find solutions. If there is a problem today, the solution will also be today. I won’t postpone work. People of Bihar should suggest how we can improve education.”For the first time, a domicile policy will be implemented in TRE-4. Along with recruitment of teachers for classes I to XII, appointments of teachers and headmasters will also be made in SC-ST and backward/extremely backward class welfare departments. BPSC will issue a combined advertisement, after which online applications will begin.At present, Bihar has nearly 6 lakh teachers. Around 2.27 lakh teachers were recruited in the last two years through TRE-1, TRE-2 and TRE-3, while nearly 3 lakh contractual teachers became state employees after clearing the competency test.
