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How to
improve education? Bihar asks students
Tuesday July 26, 2011 12:01:20 PM,
Imran Khan,
IANS
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Patna: Vivash Kumar
Jha is both nervous and excited. The overwhelming feeling of
topping the Class 12 board exams had not even sunk in when the
17-year-old got a call from the education board, asking for
suggestions to improve the quality of education in Bihar.
Vivash is among the 47 Class 10 and 12 toppers handpicked by the
state government for an ingenious initiative to better the
standards of basic education in a state that occupies the bottom
berth in the national literacy rate rankings.
"It will help the government understand the ground realities and
identify problems, which will eventually help in taking measures
to ensure quality education," Human Resource Development (HRD)
principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said.
Priti Kumari, Anurag Kumar Gupta, Shalini Yadav, Khushboo Kumari,
Aman Hussain, Vivash... all are upbeat that their young voices
will be heard in the government corridors.
"I am happy and nervous. But I am also preparing and thinking of
the idea that will go a long way in improving the education
system," Vivash told IANS over telephone.
Khushboo, who topped the Class 10 board exams last year, is
equally thrilled. "Education should be pro-poor; I believe that's
one suggestion I might like to give," she said.
"The government has selected 47 toppers from the last five years,"
said Lalan Jha, an official of the Bihar School Examination Board.
Besides improvement in basic education, skill development and
vocational training are also areas in focus. The government is
also mulling launching special programmes to cater to the academic
aspirations of minorities and backward classes.
"All selected toppers will attend special meetings in August and
September this year to share their ideas with top government
officials," Singh said.
These suggestions could be useful in formulating an action plan on
National Education Day (Nov 1), which is observed on the birth
anniversary of country's first education minister Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad.
Two months ago, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had directed the HRD
department to constitute the 'Baal Parishad' (children's council)
comprising boys and girls who topped in Class 10 and Class 12.
"A children's committee has been constituted," Singh said.
More than 80 percent of toppers in the state this year belonged to
rural areas, which lack in basic amenities.
Nitish Kumar has repeatedly said he is committed to improving
education standards. He has on more than one occasion said that
primary and secondary education in Bihar is not so good.
The chief minister recently stated that over 2.5 million children
in the age group of 6-14 were "out of school" in 2006, but their
number has gradually declined and now come down to 600,000.
He said that to improve the literacy rate, the focus would be on
appointing trained teachers, ensuring good classrooms and drinking
water facility, besides toilets at every school.
HRD Minister P.K. Shahi told IANS that the government has decided
to launch a new education programme on Independence Day to improve
attendance in schools by students.
It will ensure 100 percent attendance in schools, Shahi said.
The HRD minister appealed to the people to extend cooperation to
the government as the "task will be difficult without public
participation".
The 2011 Census records the literacy rate in Bihar at 63.8 percent
while the national average is 74 percent.
(Imran Khan can be contacted at imran.k@ians.in)
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