In a significant move to revitalize higher education, Bihar is poised to recruit over 6,000 new teachers across its universities and colleges. The massive hiring drive, expected to be advertised in the New Year of 2026, aims to address a severe and long-standing faculty shortage that has plagued the state's academic institutions.
Addressing Decades of Vacancies
The Bihar State University Service Commission (BSUSC) is preparing to advertise vacancies for assistant professors, associate professors, and professors. This initiative comes after the state education department directed all universities to compile and submit a complete list of vacant teaching posts, following the clearance of reservation rosters by competent authorities. Universities are currently busy calculating subject-wise vacancies and finalizing these rosters.
Sources indicate a staggering number of unfilled positions. In the state's 13 conventional universities alone, at least 5,000 posts for assistant professors across various subjects are vacant, a situation exacerbated by a large number of retirements since 2020. Additionally, more than 1,000 senior positions for associate professors and professors have remained unfilled for an astonishing four decades.
A New Recruitment Process
BSUSC Chairman Girish Kumar Chaudhary confirmed that the commission will advertise the vacancies as soon as they are received from the universities via the state government. He outlined a dual-track recruitment process. Appointments for superior posts (associate professors and professors) will be made directly based on interviews as per newly approved statutes.
However, a potential change is on the horizon for assistant professor recruitment. The chancellor’s secretariat has received a proposal to introduce a state-level written test for recruiting assistant professors. A three-member statute committee, comprising vice-chancellors of three universities, is already in place to frame the relevant statute. If implemented, only candidates meeting the minimum UGC requirements will be eligible to take the test. Notably, even NET-qualified candidates and PhD holders will have to appear for this written examination.
Clearing the Backlog and Future Prospects
This recruitment push follows a previous drive in September 2020, when BSUSC advertised 4,638 assistant professor posts across 52 subjects. While most appointments from that round have been finalized over the last five years, nearly 1,000 appointments in botany, zoology, history, and commerce remain pending due to ongoing litigations.
In a related development, the commission has recently appointed 116 new principals for constituent colleges in the state. Chairman Chaudhary expressed optimism, stating that universities will hopefully get directly recruited associate professors and professors after a long gap. For several decades, senior posts have been filled only through internal promotions under time-bound and merit promotion schemes.
Under the new statutes for appointing teachers to superior posts, an assistant professor can become an associate professor after eight years of service and a professor after ten years, provided they demonstrate academic competence. This large-scale recruitment is seen as a crucial step to infuse fresh talent and expertise into Bihar's higher education system, potentially improving academic standards and student outcomes across the state.
