A report on the Status of Primary Education in Bihar confirms the growing strides made by the Nitish Kumar government in putting children into schools. While 25 lakh children between the ages of six and 14 were found to be out of school in 2005-06,the number is now down to a quarter 5.9 lakh. In 2009,92.7 per cent of the children who passed out of Class V enrolled into Class VI,against an average of 32 per cent doing so in Classes VI,VII and VIII in the prior three years. One of the reasons is the jump in the number of schools there are now 114.3 schools for every one lakh people in the state,against just 60 three years ago. These are some of the main findings of the report on primary education in Bihar prepared by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI),Pratichi (West Bengal) and Centre for Economic Policies and Public Finance. The Indian Express has accessed the report,which will be released by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen here on February 4. Bihar has over 50,000 primary schools,enrolling about two crore children between the ages of six and 14 years. Besides visiting schools of all representative districts,the ADRI,Pratichi and CEPPF interviewed 900 households. The focus was on representative districts of Bhojpur,Madhubani,Bhagalpur,Katihar and Gopalganj,specifically 30 village schools far away from main link roads. Based on the data between 2005-06 and 2008-09,the three agencies concluded that now only 2.9 per cent children between the ages of six and 14 are out of schools in the state. This is an improvement over even the recent Pratham report that said 3.5 per cent children were out of schools. The most startling finding is the phenomenal rise in children's enrolment in Classes VI to VIII,credited primarily to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar coming up with the idea of distribution of free school uniforms in Class V and bicycles for those getting into Class IX,along with midday meals. While earlier only girls were being given the free cycles,even boys are entitled to the same now. Parents and students vouch that while the government provides bicycles only from Class IX,it has boosted fresh enrolment from Class VI itself. The report concludes that 94.1 per cent children now study in government schools,5.7 per cent in private schools and 0.2 per cent in unrecognised madarsas. All recognised madarsas are listed under government schools. The result of the state government constructing 1.12 lakh additional classrooms in the past four years has also helped,as there are now almost double the schools available per one lakh of the population compared to 2005-06. The report also says that the average attendance in Classes I to VIII is now up to 61.6 per cent of their total strength,from less than 40 per cent three years ago. Another interesting finding of the report is that 6.6 per cent primary school teachers and 10.4 per cent teachers of upper primary classes run private tuitions. 45.5 per cent teachers justified private tuitions,as a desirable practice. The report comes hard on the general status of the midday meal scheme,criticising the way it is run. Scoring high* Only 2.91% children between the ages of six and 14 out of school now* 114.3 schools per one lakh population,against 60 three years ago* Enrolment in Classes VI-VIII up from 32 to 92 per cent in the past three years* Only 5.7 per cent children in private schools* Average class attendance is 61.6% of the total strength
