Improving Education

Bihar needs to accord top priority to primary education to get rid of the "most illiterate state" tag. Readers' Views

Based on readers' suggestions and talks with teachers, sociologists and politicians, HindustanTimes.com explores how to increase literacy in India's most illiterate state.

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What the teachers say
De-politicise education, and return it to academicians. Most vice chancellors appointed to Bihar universities in the last two-three decades have not come from academic backgrounds: they have all been political appointees. This has to change.

What sociologists say
Politicians don't look for votes or money from education. This attitude has to change.

What politicians say
The government is to be blamed. Remove the current dispensation.

What the common man says
Create jobs, and make higher education job-oriented. Provide primary education free of cost, and run mid-day meal schemes at more schools. The current government is to be blamed for the mess, but take the help of the Centre and the private sector to improve standards.

Readers' Views »

A number of Bihar's problems stem from widespread illiteracy. The state government is already spending a fair percentage of its budget on education. But it needs to re-think its priorities within the sector and follow a more focussed approach, not just to improve literacy but also to link higher literacy with Bihar's overall development.

A three-pronged approach can be followed:

universal education is not a goal that can be compromised. So the first priority should be elementary education, both in urban and rural areas,

women's education is another must. It doesn't just help empower a weak section of society but also gives fillip to child education, and

higher education should turn its focus to vocational training instead of just imparting degrees without job prospects.

Towards Universal Education
Resources should be diverted towards primary schools. Thousands of teaching positions are lying vacant here. They can be filled by the large number of students who graduate from Bihar's universities every year, but do not find jobs.

Graduates and post-graduates, even those without BEd, MEd and similar degrees, should be given teaching jobs in primary schools. They can be trained after their selection. This will solve the problem of teacher-shortage in primary schools, and also help stem the brain drain from the state to some extent.