Patna, Oct 18 (IANS): After strong protests, the Bihar State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) on Tuesday postponed the training of residential teachers in the state.

The teachers had expressed concerns over the dates of the training programme, which was scheduled between October 16 to 21, citing observance of fast during the nine-day festival, which began on October 15.

On the day one, a large number of teachers appeared in the training programme while they were observing the fast.

"We have no problem with the training programme but we have concerns over the date as it is taking place during Navratri festival when the majority of teachers are on fast. We appreciate SCERT's decision to cancel the training," said Raju Singh, the convener of TET primary teachers association of Bihar.

"We have cancelled the training of residential teachers of Bihar due to indispensable reasons. We will issue the notification again for the same in future," said Sajjan R, Directorof SCERT.