Patna: Govt schools across Bihar will function as half-days on Saturdays, which will be observed as ‘No Bag Day’, with students taking part in creative and co-curricular activities instead of regular classroom teaching, education minister Mithilesh Tiwari announced on Thursday.Under the revised schedule, schools will remain open from 9.30am to 1pm on Saturdays, while classes from Monday to Friday will continue from 9.30am to 4pm.Tiwari said Saturdays would be devoted to activities such as music, drama and art to promote the holistic development of students. For Classes I to VIII, academic and co-curricular activities will continue till noon, followed by the mid-day meal. Students of secondary and higher secondary schools will attend classes and other activities till 1pm before dispersing.The minister said teachers trained in art and music would be appointed for the initiative. Teachers would continue to use the remaining time for lesson planning, evaluation, updating records and remedial classes where required.On the state’s teacher transfer policy, Tiwari said 73,151 teachers had applied for adjustment and rationalisation through the e-Shikshakosh portal between July 29 and Aug 5. The applications account for nearly 70% of the 1.06 lakh teachers identified as surplus. Another 4,259 teachers sought mutual transfers.District, divisional and state-level committees will process the applications and publish adjustment lists between Aug 7 and Sept 9, while mutual transfer requests will be settled between Sept 10 and 14. A fresh round of general transfer applications will open on Sept 17.The minister said teachers would be transferred only to schools they selected during the application process, and the department aimed to complete the entire exercise by Oct 31.
