Bihar dusts off 2007 policy, no more +2 in colleges

Intermediate education will now be imparted only in higher secondary schools from the new session starting April 1, 2024.

The Bihar government on Wednesday decided to end intermediate education in all three streams — arts, science and commerce — in colleges under different state universities, officials said.

Students come out after taking their Bihar Board Class 10th exam at DAV High School in Patna. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

With this, intermediate education will now be imparted only in higher secondary schools from the new session starting April 1, 2024.

The resolution to this effect has been notified in the state gazette.

In 2007, the Nitish Kumar government had taken a policy decision to phase out intermediate education from colleges to conform to the 1986 National Education Policy of 10+2+3 and introduced CBSE format in plus two from the 2007-09 batch.

With the dissolution of the Bihar Intermediate Council and revamping of the Bihar School Examination Board, Bihar also had one integrated board for both Class 10 and plus two, in line with the CBSE and ICSE.

In 2007 itself, Patna University became the first in the state to delink intermediate education from its degree colleges. The process was to be continued for other universities, but it took another 17 years to implement the policy.

“Now, with large-scale infrastructure development and recruitment of 67,961 teachers for higher secondary schools and another 65,737 teachers in secondary schools under a special drive, schools are now equipped to handle plus two education,” says the resolution, adding the decision has the approval of the state cabinet.

In 2013, the Bihar government had also taken a policy decision to have one higher secondary school in every panchayat and had upgraded the existing secondary schools, but most of them struggled with the out teachers. But now, after the recent round of recruitments, they have got adequate teachers.