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Patna,(BiharTimes): Notwithstanding so much incentive offered by the Centre and the state government the rate of out-of-school children in Bihar is still higher among older children. The enrolment rate at the upper primary level is still very low. Not only that the quality of education imparted to them is far from satisfactory.
This was stated in the report published by the UK-based International Growth Centre. |
The 58-page paper on Education Policies and Practices: What Have We Learnt and the Road Ahead for Bihar has stressed the need for more incentives for teachers so as to improve the quality of education.
The report has been prepared under the aegis of IGC at the London School of Economics (LSE) and published earlier this month. It says a statewide data system needs to be created to link students’ performance with teacher effectiveness. Such a data system will also help monitor the performance of schools and allow the administrators to take remedial action in schools that fare badly.
According to the report the government has undertaken several policy initiatives to lower the cost of schooling. These include providing free textbooks, free uniforms, midday meals and free bicycles. “However, much remains to be done for improving the schooling infrastructure. Only 60% of the schools have classrooms in good condition; 10% of the primary schools still lack drinking water facility; more than 70% of the primary and upper primary schools do not have separate girls’ toilets. These are some areas of concern which should be of highest priority to the policymakers.”
Priya Ranjan (University of California, Irvine) and Nishith Prakash (University of Connecticut, USA) are the co-authors of the report.
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