State education council on anvil, says minister

Patna: Education minister Ashok Chaudhary said here on Monday that the state government was committed to making Bihar one of the top five educationally advanced states in the country.
Inaugurating the ninth Bihar Education Conference, jointly organised by the East and West Educational Society, Voluntary Forum for Education and Oxfam India at Patna University geology auditorium here, the minister said a state education council with adequate representation of all stakeholders would soon come up in the state.
He added that the chancellor and the state government were taking steps for betterment of education system in the state. “The chancellor is likely to convene a meeting of the vice chancellors on January 15 to discuss academic problems and find ways for improvement. Some harsh measures may also be taken to streamline the system,” he said.
Chaudhary regretted that even though the state is spending 25% of its total budget on education, much higher than many other states, it ranks 26th in terms of quality of education. “There has been considerable improvement in infrastructural facilities in education sector during the last five years. However, the state lags behind other states so far as quality is concerned,” the minister said.
“The teacher-student ratio has improved following the recruitment of teachers in primary schools, but good teachers could not be appointed through panchayats. As many as three opportunities were given to the teachers to clear the state eligibility test, but many of the newly recruited teachers could not clear the test. Such teachers would have to go as the government would not make any compromise with the quality,” he added.
Referring to the problem of absenteeism among teachers and students in educational institutions, he said teachers must stay at least for five hours daily in their institutions and the system of compulsory attendance for students must be strictly followed. “Steps should also be initiated for minimising dropout rate in schools and colleges so that the gross enrolment ratio in higher education could increase considerably,” he said.
Conference convenor Vinay Kumar Kanth said the state should have its own education policy and action plan if it really wants to improve the education system. “Institutional framework should be strengthened and the state should refrain from privatization, especially in elementary education,” he said.
PU history teacher Daisy Narain welcomed the guests and introduced the theme of the conference.