Bihar govt’s focus back on Nitish’s dream project Simultala Awasiya Vidyalay

The government has also decided to develop ‘Swastho Kothi’, where Swami Vivekanand once lived to recover from illness, as an attraction for visitors and inspiration for students.

After a long wait, the Bihar government has turned its focus on chief minister Nitish Kumar’s dream project, Simultala Awasiya Vidyalaya (SAV) - a unique abode of learning in a picturesque hamlet bordering Jharkhand where the elite once spent months in the still existing sprawling villas. The project is billed as Bihar’s answer to the undivided state’s pride Netarhat Vidyalay.

In Niti Aayog’s SDG India Index 2020-21, Bihar has been adjudged again as the worst performer. (HT photo)

The government has also decided to develop ‘Swastho Kothi’, where Swami Vivekanand once lived to recover from illness, as an attraction for visitors and inspiration for students. The premises where the campus is being developed also includes ‘Swastho Kothi’.

Last month, education minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, additional chief secretary (education) Sanjay Kumar, director (secondary education) Manoj Kumar, managing director of the Bihar state educational infrastructure corporation Shrikant Shastri, among others, reached Simultala by helicopter to make an on-the-spot review of the infrastructure development work and interacted with teachers, staff and students to get a first-hand feel of the ground realities for taking immediate steps required to make it a pace-setting institution as envisaged.

“The school has done well as far as its results in the Bihar board is concerned but the larger objective of holistic education through the Gurukul system to prepare students for future challenges in varied fields is yet to be achieved. It was set up to fill the void, which was felt after Netarhat Vidyalaya went to Jharkhand following bifurcation. There are certain issues, which will be worked upon, viz. infrastructure development, faculty and staff shortage etc. The students also gave their feedback and highlighted loopholes that need to be addressed,” said the minister.

In Niti Aayog’s SDG India Index 2020-21, Bihar has been adjudged again as the worst performer. The School Education Quality Index (SEQI) is developed to evaluate the performance of states and Union territories (UTs) in the school education sector.

Choudhary said an on-the-spot visit had been planned to take stock of the issues and help the institution achieve its avowed objective as it is close to the heart of the chief minister and was set up with a purpose to give talented students a platform to make their mark.

“There are certain limitations right now. The building construction has just begun. As far as vacancies are concerned, they will be filled at the earliest. Students’ grievances will be resolved and officials will soon visit to give positive solutions. ‘Swastho Kothi’ will be protected and developed to inspire the present generation. I visited the place. A statue of Swami Vivekanand will also be installed to make it an added attraction for the SAV and inspiration for the students,” he added.

Swami Vivekanand spent a fortnight at the ‘Swastho Kothi’ in 1887 to regain his health. The place has now been taken by the government on lease for developing the school campus. Earlier, some villagers met local legislator Damodar Rawat with a request to keep the rich legacy intact. With the minister’s assurance to further develop it as an inspirational spot, that issue was resolved.

Since its inception in 2010, the boarding school, with an annual intake of 120 students (60 boys and 60 girls) through a statewide screening test, has been running from rented buildings having prefab structures, though the SAV project was to be initially completed by March 2012. Now, the fresh deadline for campus development is February 2023 and the minister has asked the contractors to speed up work so that the deadline is not missed. The work was started during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In its debut class 10 board exams in 2015, 19 SAV students secured more than 96% - a record since the inception of the Bihar school examination board in 1952. A year later, all 42 students in the top 10 were from SAV. Though the same performance could not be maintained, it remains the best performer in the state. The government spends a handsome budget on SAV which other government schools are deprived of. In the beginning, it was planned to make SAV a CBSE-affiliated school to let the students compete nationally, but later it stuck to the Bihar board. Netarhat has now switched over to CBSE. Earlier, a CAG report also flagged certain issues, including lack of account of the SAV Society.