Patna, Aug 7 Hundreds of students poured onto the streets of Patna on Thursday, demanding the immediate conduct of the Secondary Teacher Eligibility Test (STET) before the upcoming TRE 4 recruitment.
The protest saw a massive turnout, with students marching from various coaching hubs towards Dak Bungalow Crossing, leading to significant traffic disruption in the heart of the city.
The students' primary demand is that the STET exam - pending for the last two years - be held before the TRE 4 recruitment process, so that aspiring candidates are not left out of the selection procedure.
Anticipating unrest, the Patna police had deployed heavy security forces at sensitive locations, including JP Golambar and Dak Bungalow Crossing, with water cannons placed on standby.
The situation turned tense when a group of students allegedly attempted to tear a police officer's uniform, prompting a mild lathi charge by the police to disperse the crowd.
While the police have not released an official count of injuries, protesting students claimed that several were injured in the baton charge.
The administration has remained tight-lipped about the exact number of those hurt.
Protesters expressed deep frustration with the Bihar government's failure to hold timely recruitment examinations.
Nishant Raj, one of the student protestors, said: "The government had promised to conduct the STET every six months, but two years have passed with no exam in sight. We are not demanding jobs - we just want the opportunity to compete based on merit. All we ask is that the STET be conducted before TRE 4."
He also highlighted that the librarian recruitment exam has not been conducted for the past 15 years, further aggravating the sense of neglect among aspirants.
The agitation has gained momentum with support from many coaching teachers and private educators, who accompanied the students on the streets.
They voiced concern over the cascading impact of these delays on Bihar's education and employment ecosystem.
The protest comes on the heels of another major student movement that led to the implementation of the 84.5 per cent domicile-based reservation in Bihar’s teacher recruitment process.
Many believe that the government’s backtracking on exam schedules is eroding the trust built during that movement.
The students have warned that if the Nitish Kumar-led government does not address their demands promptly, they will intensify their agitation in the coming days.
--IANS
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