After Delhi and Jharkhand, student protests have reached Bihar. In Patna on Tuesday, protesters marched to the Chief Minister’s residence. Police had to resort to mild lathi charge and water cannons to stop them. Several police personnel were injured in stone throwing.
The students are demanding cancellation of BPSC exam. They also want teacher recruitment exam to be held in one phase only, the Pre and Mains concept be given the go-by, and negative markings must end. Bihar Public Service Commission has said that it is not possible to accept these demands. The government is ready for talks with students.
The demand by protesters to hold early exams for all pending posts is justified. Their demand for timebound action against those indulging in paper leak, transparency in exam system is also justified. But how can their demand for change in exam system be justified? The system was made transparent based on suggestions from an experts committee. Even Union Public Service Commission conducts Civil Services Preliminary and Main exams in two phases.
Negative markings were introduced on the suggestions of experts’ committee. If students want that there must be no bungling in exams, then changes will have to be introduced. The incident that took place during the pharmacy exam at Patna University of Health Sciences is surprising. Since copying was not allowed, nearly 90 per cent students failed and there were protests by students.
Who can accept the demand for allowing copying in exam? If the exam system has to be reformed and students who toil hard are to be given a chance to pass their exams, there must be stringent rules to stop paper leaks and cheating. Strong measures are needed to change the examination system.
Samrat Chaudhary must improve conditions of Bihar schools
Many government schools in Bihar are in a pathetic shape. Yesterday, Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary launched Vidyarthi Sahyog, a student support portal, with a helpline number 1100, where students can lodge complaints which will be resolved within 30 days.
Student support camps will be held in all schools and hostels on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Samrat Chaudhary’s ideas may be good, but there is a severe trust deficit. People have doubts whether his plans can be successfully implemented. Conditions in schools are so dismal that it requires steps on a war footing. Let me give some examples. In a govt middle school in Madhepura, there are only two classrooms where 159 students from Class One to Class Eight study at a time. Teachers of different subjects teach students of different classes inside the same classroom simultaneously.
One can well imagine what these children may be learning. The state government sanctioned funds for a new building but since land was not allotted, the funds were returned. In a school in Patna, teachers and students of five different classes share a single blackboard. Visuals of these school rooms were telecast in my show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on September 15, 2023.
There has been no change in the condition of the school. In Rohtas, students study in a school where buffaloes are kept. In one room is a fodder cutting machine and another room is stocked with hay. Students study in the remaining two rooms. Teachers told India TV reporter that a local goon, Sonu Yadav, has occupied the school building claiming that it has been built on land owned by his grandfather.
I would like to praise the children of Bihar who study in a room adjoining the stable and pass examinations. If after 40 years, the government is unable to provide proper classrooms to students, and if they have to study with buffaloes tied nearby, what is the use of appointing teachers? Framing a good syllabus, appointing competent teachers will not help, if the school does not have proper classrooms. What will students study and what will the teachers teach? If Samrat Chaudhary can change this situation, he should deserve the highest award.
Yogi in poll mode : Jobs for youths, free bus travel for elderly women
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has promised to give government jobs to one lakh youths in the next six months. Yesterday, he distributed job appointment letters to 3,446 agriculture technical assistants and 126 ‘mandi’ secretaries.
His cabinet also decided to provide lifetime free bus travel to all women above the age of 60 years across UP. Women will have to show their Aadhar card or voter identity card to avail free bus travel. This is a Raksha Bandhan gift for elderly women from Yogi.
The chief minister is now in election mode. He is announcing new plans daily and his arch political rival Akhilesh Yadav is nonplussed. UP government has allotted Rs 2,354 crore in its budget for distributing free laptops to nearly 25 lakh youths. Rs 604 crore have been allotted for repairs and rebuilding of primary and upper primary schools. The idea is to provide better classrooms to young children.
Yogi understood the needs of the time and the public mood. He made decisions accordingly.