ChaiFry

📘 School Education in Bihar: Decade-by-Decade

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1940s–1950s: Foundation & Limited Access

🔹 Milestone: Patna & Gaya saw model schools under colonial legacy.
🔹 Hurdles: Rural children, especially girls and lower castes, had almost no access. Education was urban and elitist.

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1960s: Expansion Begins

🔹 Milestone: Establishment of state-run primary and secondary schools.
🔹 Hurdles: Poor teacher-student ratio; lack of infrastructure in villages.

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1970s: Political Turbulence Hits Schools

🔹 Milestone: National policies like Operation Blackboard aimed at basic education.
🔹 Hurdles: Student protests, JP Movement—schools shut for long periods. Session delays became common.

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1980s: Rising Enrollment, Falling Quality

🔹 Milestone: More schools opened in semi-urban and rural areas.
🔹 Hurdles: Mass appointments of untrained teachers; absenteeism increased. Caste-based discrimination visible in classrooms.

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1990s: Near Collapse of Government Schooling

🔹 Milestone: SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) began in late 1990s.
🔹 Hurdles: Infrastructure crisis; classrooms without roofs; learning levels dropped drastically. Families started preferring private schools.

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2000–2005: Alarming Drop in Trust

🔹 Milestone: Awareness campaigns for universal enrollment.
🔹 Hurdles: Teacher absenteeism; exam fraud; government schools seen as last resort. Girls’ dropout rate high.

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2005–2015: Policy-Driven Revival (Nitish Era)

🔹 Milestones:
• Bicycle Yojana (for girls)
• Uniform scheme, Mid-day Meals
• Massive teacher recruitment
• “Saat Nischay” focus on basic services
🔹 Impact: Enrollment improved sharply, especially for girls & Dalit children.

🔹 Hurdles:
• Contract teachers underpaid
• Quality of teaching remained weak
• Poor learning outcomes

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2015–2020: Inclusion with Challenges

🔹 Milestone:
• Student Credit Card Scheme
• Smart class pilots in select districts
🔹 Hurdles:
• Teacher training remained neglected
• Digital divide became obvious in urban-rural gap

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2020–2024: COVID & Digital Transition Era

🔹 Milestone:
• Online learning during lockdown
• Tablets, smart classes in some schools
• Vocational education push under NEP
🔹 Hurdles:
• Poor internet in villages
• Widened learning gaps
• Return to school crisis, especially for girls

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✅ Key Milestones (Overall):
1. Mid-day meal scheme (early 2000s) – boosted enrollment
2. Cycle Yojana (2006) – historic in reducing gender gap
3. Mass teacher appointments (post-2006)
4. NEP influence begins post-2020

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❌ Major Hurdles:
• Teacher absenteeism & lack of training
• Political interference in appointments
• Infrastructure deficits (toilets, libraries)
• No real accountability for outcomes
• Growing shift toward low-fee private schools despite free public education