The education revolution of Bihar

For long, Bihar has been the dark spot in the India development story but recent figures from the education sector in the state show that things are turning around. From doing everything wrong, suddenly Bihar is doing everything right.

"It may not look much, but this new school in Saharsa is a sign of pride," said Kanhaiya Kumar, a Saharsa resident.

"In my school, we have classes even during vacations. We call it summer camp," said Dolly, a student.

It's one of the 18,500 schools that have opened in the last few years, improving access to primary schools by 98 per cent.

"Our school has really improved from before," said Raghunandan Thakur, a teacher.

The change is astounding. Around 45 lakh children were out of school in 2001, and now there are just five lakh. Around 95 children were packed into every classroom, which is now just 75. Of the allocated funds, only 13 per cent was spent before, and now that has improved to 62 per cent.

"The teacher-student ratio used to be 90-100 before. Now it is closer to national average," said Saharsa District Magistrate R Lakshmanan.

One and a half lakh teachers have been appointed, two thirds of them women. Educationists predict that at this rate, Bihar's growth will be much faster in the coming years.

And while officials say it's an instance of Centre-state cooperation, the school development story coincides with the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.