Secondary education: beyond bicycles! Patna: it seems so, yes! In a recent development the Bihar government is mulling setting up one secondary school in each gram panchayat entailing a cost of Rs 5,500 crore, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said. The state government is committed to set up more schools and equipping them with good facilities to provide quality education to the students, he said at the Independence Day function on Wednesday. Clearly, the lure of the bicycle scheme and other such motivating factors will soon outlive their uses. It is after all the quality of education... 

Bihar to shift to quality education with loan from World Bank: and high time too!   Quality brings kids to school! Patna:  Bihar government will seek loan from World Bank to provide training to school teachers, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said recently and expressed disgust with the Centre for its failure to make the due arrangements. When it comes to mass education and literacy, heavily populated countries like India and Bangladesh countries have to devise their own ways to achieve success since countries with smaller populations have very little to teach them. This is even truer when it... 

Physics camp for teachers at Magadh Mahila College [26-27 September]: by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education Patna: in a welcome development for Physics teachers of the state, a two-day physics camp is being organized by the Magadh Mahila College in September – the purpose is to give school and college teachers an exposure to international standard experiments which they may share with the students. The camp ‘Physics Olympiad Exposure Camp’ on September 26-27 is the result of collaboration between Magadh Mahila College and Homi Bhabha Centre For Science Education, Mumbai. Dolly... 

Bihar government to put a chapter on kala azar in school textbooks: to ensure awareness! Patna: according to the latest reports, the Bihar government has decided to introduce a chapter on kala azar in textbooks used by the government run schools across the state. The Bihar state Health Society executive director Sanjay Kumar said a Patna-based NGO has been asked to prepare the text on kala azar for inclusion in text books. This indicates both the seriousness of the medical issue as well as the government’s determination to fight the disease by raising public awareness. Kumar said that... 

Nasscom’s ‘IT-eco system’ to develop skill/infrastructure for software industry in Bihar Patna: according to the latest reports, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) delegates have had a round of meetings with the state government to develop an environment conducive for IT and ITeS firms in the state through an ‘IT-eco system’, namely a skill pool conducive to such investment. Dr Ganesh Natarajan, the member of the chairmen’s council of Nasscom, recently met deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and the information technology secretary, Arun... 

Enrolment by Hindu students in madrassas for higher education on increase in Bihar: a welcome sign! Patna: some recent reports on the significant number of Hindu students enrolling in madrassas in Bihar are making a wave in the cyber world. The reasons – revamped courses, nominal fees and job opportunities in the Gulf. One such student, 19-year-old Sanjay, the son of a Hindu trader in Bettiah district told a reporter ‘I will complete Alim (equivalent to graduation) degree course from a madrassa. It is affordable and will provide an opportunity to enrich my knowledge’. Sanjay took... 

Try Explaining this disturbing paradox: girls outperform boys in board results but foeticide continues… Patna: Bihar would seem to fully reflect the paradoxes of the Indian society. On the one hand, female fetuses continue to be eliminated with the aid of the latest medical/imaging technologies, and on the other women in Bihar continue seek and find empowerment through the ‘bicycle’ revolution and the reservation of seats in local bodies like panchayats. Nothing illustrates it better than hard data on the performance of girl students in the Bihar School Examination Board, the Central... 

‘Chemistry in our life’: theme of 4th Bihar Science Congress [9th -11th June] Patna: Organized by the Bihar Council on Science and Technology, the Bihar Science Congress has taken up the theme adopted by the UN which declared 2011 as the year of chemistry. During its two day session around 250 papers and abstracts are being presented in the congress sessions by scientists, researchers, engineers and physicians from Bihar and other states. The purpose of the Congress is to provide a platform to young scientists for presentation of their research and ideas. During the first days, some of... 

Once again schoolchildren claim their rights: refuse to eat bad mid-day meal in Arwal Village Sakri Khurd, Kaler, Arwal, Bihar: according to a report in the Hindi press, a few days ago students of the middle school in Sakri Khurd refused to eat their mid-day meal in opposition to the quality of food and non-payment of money for their uniforms. In case Sakri Khurd sounds like a nowhere-village, for the past few years, children in rural Bihar have been waking up to their rights and rising against the school authorities against small and big injustices. The English press rarely deigns to report... 

एक महान शिक्षिका की खौफनाक कहानी : अशोक पकड़ी, पूर्वी चंपारण, बिहार रत्नाकर त्रिपाठी गाँव पहुँचते ही अक्सर मै अपने मेज़बान से एक अनमना सवाल कर बैठता हूँ – स्कूल में पढाई कैसी चल रही है? सामान्यतः शांत दिमागवाले हैं वो और बड़े धीरज...