Bihar for reforms to bring back students to govt schools

Since 1st July, Bihar education department additional chief secretary, KK Pathak, has launched an education reforms drive by conducting regular inspections at over 75,000 schools including 9,000 secondary and higher secondary schools. Pathak, in a detailed letter to all district magistrates on 24 July, wrote that he was stunned to find government funds of Rs 1,400 lying idle under sundry development heads with headmasters hesitating to change even bulbs at schools. Pathak, also expressed his displeasure at the irregular regular cleaning of toilets.

Post-inspection, Pathak has initiated several corrective measures including the provision of night guards at schools with labs and computers and also gave powers to headmasters to spend up to Rs 5 lakh in place of Rs 2.5 lakh, earlier.

The education department has also decided that if the school management committee waits over a proposal for spending funds above Rs 5 lakh for 15 days, the district education officer would need to sanction the proposal. The department has also directed that toilets must be cleaned daily. Schools have to be mandatorily inspected twice a week, also involving non-education department officials.

Pathak wrote in his letter to DMs: “Lack of teachers in secondary and higher secondary schools is a major reason why students are going to coaching institutes instead of coming to our schools. The department is enlisting certain institutions for academic support, which will take science, mathematics, English and computer classes at fixed rates per class, per school, in different districts, and will be paid for by the department.”