• Landing Page
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Buy JNews
  • Login
Upgrade
The News Porter
Advertisement
  • Home
  • Page One
  • Exclusive
  • Nation
  • World
  • Fast News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Education
    • Diaspora
    • Health
    • Legal Angle
    • Science & Tech
    • Press Release
    • The Blog Spot
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Page One
  • Exclusive
  • Nation
  • World
  • Fast News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Education
    • Diaspora
    • Health
    • Legal Angle
    • Science & Tech
    • Press Release
    • The Blog Spot
No Result
View All Result
The News Porter
No Result
View All Result

‘Ad hocism could be the bane of Bihar’s higher education system’

What ails higher education in Bihar? Large-scale vacancies in colleges are badly hampering academic work, demotivating rural students to travel long distances to attend classes in colleges distant from their homes

Dheeraj Sinha by Dheeraj Sinha
March 22, 2023
in Cities, Education, Exclusive, Nation, National Panorama, Page One
0
‘Ad hocism could be the bane of Bihar’s higher education system’

Higher education in Bihar is facing multiple challenges, foremost among them being ad hocism, mainly in the appointment of teachers in the state’s colleges.

To begin with, the state government had constituted the University Service Commission for the selection and appointment of teachers, but it was scrapped in 2007 in the name of rampant corruption. To the surprise of many, it was eventually revived in 2017.

“There is a lot of corruption in the state secretariat too. Does that mean it should also be disbanded,” asked Dr DM Diwakar, a former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies.

With the scrapping of the University Service Commission, appointments of teachers in the government colleges were disrupted leading to a sharp decline in the standards of teaching. This provided an ideal situation for the proliferation of a large number of private colleges and institutions charging heavy fees from students. Between 2007 and 2017, such private colleges and several private universities, to boot, mushroomed all over the state.

Private universities

“As many as seven new private universities have sprung up in the state as students’ faith in the public education system has eroded to a large extent,” commented a university professor.

After the scrapping of University Service Commission, Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) was given the responsibility of recruiting university teachers. Since BPSC was already overburdened with too much work, the appointment of new teachers slowed down, creating vacancies as well as delaying filling of existing vacant posts in colleges and universities, pointed out Dr Diwakar. “The ultimate sufferers were the students enrolled in government colleges,” he added.

[Also, by the same author: Bihar’s Nawada set to host international-class cricket academy with top-tier facilities – THE NEWS PORTER]

According to the Head of the Hindi Department of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur, Dr Yogesh Mahto, there is a possibility of the universities’ sessions getting regularised though it may still be unlikely to upgrade the higher education system as large numbers of teaching posts are lying vacant, affecting teaching, and even the process of evaluation getting largely compromised, particularly at the +2 level.

Pressure on examiners

“Since students obtain higher marks in CBSE board exams, there is pressure on examiners teaching in +2 colleges to evaluate answer sheets liberally,” he said.

Since there are large-scale vacancies in colleges, it is badly hampering academic work, demotivating rural students to travel long distances to attend classes in colleges distant from their homes. There is an alarming drop in the number of students attending classes in such a situation. In Tilka Manji Bhagalpur University’s prestigious TNB College, the number of teachers has come down over the years from 175 to 125. And this has happened when teachers have to take +2 classes as well.

The General Secretary of All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations, Dr Arun Kumar, said there are two categories of colleges in Bihar: constituent and affiliated. “As much as 60 percent of students are studying in the affiliated colleges,” he pointed out.

Lack of proper infrastructure

Even the post-graduate (PG) education is not insulated from the bane of ad hocism as PG teaching started in 100 colleges suffers a lot due to the lack of proper infrastructure in these colleges. “These colleges are no more than degree distribution centres,” he explained.

The number of sanctioned posts of college teachers in Bihar is 8,500 but 60 percent of them are vacant. While 1,200 teachers were appointed in 1996, the second lot of 1,300 teachers were recruited in 2019. Some teachers were appointed by BPSC between 2016 and 2019.

While the number of sanctioned posts of college teachers remains static at what it was in 1970s, the number of students has increased 10 times over during since then, Dr Kumar noted.

Of greater concern is the fact that there are no permanent teachers in the state’s colleges which offer professional courses.

Dr Kumar said that the state government has allocated Rs 35,000 crore for the higher education for the period 2022-23 but a lion’s share of the amount will go into paying salary and pension of the teaching and non-teaching employees.

Bearing additional burden

Although the number of teachers in Bihar’s degree colleges remains far from adequate, +2 are also being held in these colleges.

Dr Kumar said that Bihar was the only state in the country where +2 classes are held in degree colleges. Except for Patna University colleges, +2 classes are being held in colleges under all other universities of the state. He said this was putting too much strain on limited resources in terms of number of teachers, infrastructure and financial resources of the colleges and universities.

Dr Kumar said that +2 classes were being held in degree colleges despite Patna High Court’s directive to delink + 2 education from colleges. “Since Bihar Intermediate Education Council (BIEC) looks after affairs of +2 education and universities are entrusted with the task of administering degree colleges, there are two centres of authority functioning in a single college,” he pointed out.

Late sessions

Though sessions are running late in all the universities of Bihar, Magadh University (MU) has virtually left behind all others on this count.

Dr Kumar said that the session in Magadh University was late by four years. Part-1 examination of graduation courses, he said, was held in the MU in 2019 itself but no result has been declared so far. The session was late even in Patna University by two years; it was two to three years behind schedule in other universities.

MU Vice Chancellor KC Sinha claimed that all the pending results of examinations held between 2017-20 and 2018-21 would be published by the end of the month. The university is unable to conduct examinations on time, primarily due to the staff shortage. The reason behind the delay is mainly attributed to corruption cases being faced by the MU’s top functionaries. Officials, however, blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the delay.

[Also, by the same author: Double whammy for Bihar farmers as drought and deluge hit them in concert – THE NEWS PORTER]

Bihar Education Minister Prof Chandrashekhar said that all the universities have given undertaking to the state government to clear all backlogs of examinations and to regularise the academic session by the end of the 2022-23 session.

The university has over two lakh students and more than 2,000 teachers.

Magadh University’s former vice-chancellor, Rajendra Prasad, who had been absconding since November 2021 after the state vigilance unit (SVU) charged him with corrupt practices, had surrendered before a court last month.

Prasad and other accused face charges of having hatched criminal conspiracy to embezzle more than Rs30 crore of the government funds for fictitious works related to getting answer booklets, books and other items printed without any demand or need at the university. The SUV has also charged the accused with having allotted the contract for printing works to favoured people without floating any tenders.


The views are the author’s own/Main picture courtesy Pixabay

Tags: AN Sinha Institute of Social StudiesBihar Public Service CommissionBPSCLalu YadavMagadh UniversityNitish KumarPatna UniversityTejashwi YadavUGCUniversity Service Commission
Previous Post

Holi in Udaipur – Celebrating a Living Heritage in the Iconic City

Next Post

So, here’s a great news from France: Montpellier makes public transport free of charge

Dheeraj Sinha

Dheeraj Sinha

Dheeraj Sinha is a senior journalist based in Patna, Bihar. He has worked with leading publications in India and the GCC region.

Related Posts

Stampede at RCB Victory Event in Bengaluru Leaves 11 Dead, Over 30 Injured
National Panorama

Stampede at RCB Victory Event in Bengaluru Leaves 11 Dead, Over 30 Injured

by NP Team
June 5, 2025
Virat Kohli’s teary eyes in the final over said it all: What RCB’s maiden title win means for him
Exclusive

Virat Kohli’s teary eyes in the final over said it all: What RCB’s maiden title win means for him

by Ahmad Hamood
June 4, 2025
Social Justice Set to Dominate Bihar’s Political Battleground 2025
Exclusive

Social Justice Set to Dominate Bihar’s Political Battleground 2025

by Dheeraj Sinha
June 2, 2025
Bangkok’s SILQ Hotel & Residence: Tranquil, with the cosy, well-laid out Benjasri Park nearby, and yet vibrant and bustling
Exclusive

Bangkok’s SILQ Hotel & Residence: Tranquil, with the cosy, well-laid out Benjasri Park nearby, and yet vibrant and bustling

by Punam Bakshi Mohandas
May 30, 2025
International students are a boon to the US at home and abroad. Trump v Harvard will damage US’s reputation globally
Fast News

International students are a boon to the US at home and abroad. Trump v Harvard will damage US’s reputation globally

by NP Team
May 28, 2025
Next Post
‘Ad hocism could be the bane of Bihar’s higher education system’

So, here’s a great news from France: Montpellier makes public transport free of charge

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News Categories

  • Art & Culture
  • Blogger's
  • Books
  • Business
  • Cities
  • Diaspora
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Exclusive
  • Fast News
  • Foto Feature
  • Globetrotter
  • Health
  • History
  • Interviews
  • Latest News
  • Legal Angle
  • Lifestyle
  • Nation
  • National Panorama
  • Op-Ed
  • Page One
  • Photo of the Day
  • Politics
  • Premium Content
  • Press Release
  • Science & Tech
  • Sports
  • The Blog Spot
  • The Wisdom Tree
  • Travel
  • Trending
  • Uncategorized
  • World
The News Porter

We are a small group of media professionals with rich and diverse experience in Print, TV, and Digital, in
India and abroad.

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Advertise with us
  • Sponsored Content

Tags

Art & Culture Blogger's Books Business Cities Diaspora Education Entertainment Environment Exclusive Fast News Foto Feature Globetrotter Health History Interviews Latest News Legal Angle Lifestyle Nation National Panorama Op-Ed Page One Photo of the Day Politics Premium Content Press Release Science & Tech Sports The Blog Spot The Wisdom Tree Travel Trending Uncategorized World

Recent Posts

  • The idea of a two-state solution is back in the spotlight. Could this finally lead to justice for Palestinians?
  • Stampede at RCB Victory Event in Bengaluru Leaves 11 Dead, Over 30 Injured
  • Virat Kohli’s teary eyes in the final over said it all: What RCB’s maiden title win means for him
  • Social Justice Set to Dominate Bihar’s Political Battleground 2025
  • Bangkok’s SILQ Hotel & Residence: Tranquil, with the cosy, well-laid out Benjasri Park nearby, and yet vibrant and bustling

Copyright 2021 - The News Porter © All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Page One
  • Exclusive
  • Nation
  • World
  • Fast News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • More
    • Education
    • Diaspora
    • Health
    • Legal Angle
    • Science & Tech
    • Press Release
    • The Blog Spot

Copyright 2021 - The News Porter © All rights reserved.