If previous year, Bihar government was caught off guard, this year it left no stone unturned. To its credit, the government was largely successful in conducting strict and fair board examination. It was apparent in 46.6% overall result.

Yet, as the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link: With numerous rusty links the education system is too precarious. At a time when serious deliberation was needed to look into the causes of more than 8.21 lakhs who failed this year, the toppers scam has jolted the system.

After moving back to Bihar, well insulated from tirades that would have emanated after the recent scam, I could still feel the agony of millions of fellow Biharis living abroad. In this backdrop I tried to look into the Issue, its context and explored few solutions.  To be sure, similar corrupt malpractices in examination are not limited to Bihar. It is a pan-India problem.  As scholar and academician, Dr V K Maheshwari, put in a blunt assessment of Indian education system: “Examination malpractice in India has attained a frightening proportion, it is sophisticated and institutionalized. Efforts by government administration and stakeholders in the educational sector to curtail the ugly trend have not yielded any fruit. It is saddening to note that examination bodies, government functionaries, school authorities, invigilators, parents and students all participate in the iniquitous exam malpractice”.

In a study titled “Corruption: its silent penetration into the Indian education system”, Kusum Jain and Shelly have listed several instances of the corruption where as high as monitoring and regulatory bodies have been involved.

You don’t have to reverse memory lane far too back when you confront with “India’s worst medical exam scandal: Vyapam” in Madhya Pradesh.

Besides, in an investigation Reuter found, “that more than one out of every six of the country’s 398 medical schools has been accused of cheating, according to Indian government records and court filings.”

If this is the quantum of drift in arguably most respected professional education in country; others could well be imagined.

According to a recent Indian Express report, “in Gujarat, many in Class X don’t know shape of triangle, but got 90% marks in Math’s objective.”

“One of them said a trikon (triangle) has four sides and another student could not point out set two integers on a line bar, while many of them failed to solve two-digit multiplication and subtraction,” It added. Moreover, with liberal marking system and home centers, CBSE has seen rapid surge in 10 CGPA phenomenon. It is not because students are suddenly doing better while all indicators are showing dipping performance level in school.

Mentioning one such study in her speech at a convocation in Kolkata recently, India’s then HRD minister Smriti Irani stated “learning outcomes in schools have dipped to at least 30% in India”. Still, a few commentators are bent upon to present educational corruption and malpractices as solely a Bihar’s story. Therefore mocking everyone and everything associated with it has become a fashion. Unfortunately neither the consistent remarkable performances in toughest competitive examinations such as UPSC, IIT, and AIIMS by students from state could become a shield against ridicule; nor the proven skills and abilities of millions of Biharis who play key role in functioning of top public and private institutions across the country and beyond become deterrent to denigration.

Nonetheless, in today’s world when distinction is marked by the degree of wrongness; there is no denying Bihar’s standing in education is dreadful. Lack of proper Infrastructure, deteriorating academic
atmosphere, incompetent teachers, poor teacher-student ratio , incomplete syllabus, delayed sessions, teacher absenteeism, mismanagement, corruption in government administration, lack of policies to ensure quality in education, lack of non-teaching staff, especially in junior sections, traditional teachers’ training system––where the sole emphasis is on acquiring certificates rather than skills–– unwarranted involvement of teachers in non teaching activities such as elections, various surveys, repeated reports fillings of students for various central and state Government schemes are but few prominent problems of the system.

In 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, all of a sudden it lost several top engineering, medical and management colleges to the newly formed state.

For lakhs of Biharis education is only hope towards prosperity. This is a well-established fact that people from the state are eager to spend money for education. Many engineering and professional colleges across country run because of students from Bihar. Incidentally, most of the faculties who teach in these engineering colleges are also from Bihar. The multimillion Kota coaching industry also, to a degree, relies on Bihari students and teachers to sustain. If Mukherjee  Nagar of Delhi is flourishing with constant flow of civil services aspirants and their able mentors, largest contributor again is Bihar. This is travesty that despite having crucial resources in the form of students and faculties, Bihar could not transform itself into an educational hub on the pretext of lack of facilities and facilitators.
Fortunately, after recent shock Bihar government has shown hints of determination: First, the government ordered much needed probe into teachers training colleges which has become tantamount to certificate issuing bodies rather than training institutes imparting teaching skills and techniques. Along with previous worthy initiative TET (teacher eligibility test) for teacher’s recruitment, fixing training
issue is crucial to ensure one aspect of quality education, i.e. teaching. Second, investigation in recent topper scams did not end on a scapegoat (usually a norm); with several board directors and institutional heads in its radar the probe seems achieving decisive conclusion.

Third, several other probes are simultaneously underway which hopefully will assist in thorough analysis and subsequently, in devising appropriate policies to plug the loopholes significantly.

Fourth, the government announced to scrap various outdated training streams in ITI’s. Modernisation in education is one area where Bihar has to go a long way. A few days back, the government has launched Bihar Skill Development Mission. Importance of short term skill courses in employability is well known. Hundreds of in-demand short term courses are under its preview.

Last but no less crucial, recently Bihar’s education minister  Ashok Chaudhary was, from various platforms, heard advocating civil society’s participation in fighting prevalent corruption in education.

Undeniably, the society as a whole is accountable for the patronage it bestows in unethical practices during examinations and admissions. During the last decade and a half, branches of top level Institutes
such as IIT, NIT, AIIMS, CIPET, IHM, and Central Universities have been opened in Bihar. Chandra Gupta Institute of Management and Chanakya Law College both established in Patna are fitting tribute to Chandragupta Maurya who is known as the first emperor to unify India into one state and his astute advisor Chanakya respectively.

Patliputra (now Patna) was the capital of the kingdom. Aryabhatt Knowledge University was established in 2008 to promote technical and professional education in the state. Moreover, several medical, engineering, management and Diploma colleges have been started; along with hundreds of new ITI’s have been added into previously existing institutions.

In the process, a cluster of institute in Bihta part of western Patna came into existence; it would be long haul to see into it any Greater Noida in making.  A new model on the theme of Technology Park could be an option to fill the gap of professional and technical education , where government usually develops infrastructure and lease it to private firms to run their businesses. Considering meager participation of private players in higher education in Bihar, the feasibility of option can be discussed except for their temptation of sole thrust on profit making. Transparent quality Audit and grading of government schools would be indispensable to ensure quality in education.   With Super-30 model and other initiatives for IIT’s preparation scripting great success stories, deliberation is needed under active government support to replicate the model in other areas such as medical entrance, union and state Civil Services and other competitions.

The cherished dream of restoring the credibility of education in Bihar will be only be possible with collective actions and resolve.