Patna: Santosh Kumar, originally from Chausa in Madhepura, had taken admission in a bachelor’s programme at the Tilka Manjhi University in 2013. He was supposed to have graduated in 2016, but has been unable to complete the course even in seven years.
He wanted to apply for a government job, but hasn’t able to for the last 3-4 years because he doesn’t yet have a degree. “My goal was to get a government job after graduation, but after entering college, four years went to waste,” Kumar told The Wire.
He is now worried about his career, as he is getting older. Kumar has started training under a doctor, and is even practicing as a quack in his village. He said, “I don’t treat serious patients. However, I give medicines for cold, fever and other mild diseases.”
He roams the village in search of patients. “I hardly earn Rs 100-150 per day. I was getting older, so thought that I should learn to treat patients. By practicing this I can somehow arrange for two meals a day,” he says.
Thousands of students like Kumar, who were admitted to colleges, are now worried about their careers as they are not getting a degree on time.
There are more than a dozen universities in Bihar including the Bhupendra Narayan (BN) Mandal University, Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Magadh University, Tilka Manjhi (Bhagalpur) University, Veer Kunwar Singh University and others, but most of these universities are not conducting examinations on time.
There is also a huge shortage of teachers in the colleges under these universities, due to which students are not able to study properly.
Praveen Kushwaha is doing a BA in psychology at Marwari College under Tilka Manjhi University. He is also a student union leader. He too was enrolled in the year 2013, but has not yet completed his course. He said, ”There is only one psychology teacher in my college, who also takes examinations in other colleges. Due to this, we can not complete our course and have to depend on past papers.”
Kushwaha also said that every year at Tilka Manjhi University, results of hundred of students remain pending, which causes more problems for students.
According to media report, posts for about 8,000 teachers in Bihar colleges are vacant. Some universities do not even have a permanent vice-chancellor. However, some guest faculty have been appointed recently.
Two years ago, Governor Satya Pal Malik made a sharp remark about the plight of higher education in Bihar. He had said at a public event held in Odisha, “I am happy to share that the universities of Odisha are doing better than the universities in Bihar. There is a mafia rule in the education system in Bihar. Exams are not done properly and there is no academic calendar. There is no such problem in Odisha.”
Watch: ‘Don’t Want Grants, Want Equal Pay Scale’, Say Bihar Govt School Teachers
In February this year, the Patna high court also made a strong comment about Bihar’s education system. The court said, “It appears that the system is only spoiling the future generation.” The court had said that the state should put its derailed education system back on track.
According to educationists, the lack of will power from the government and vice-chancellors means the academic calendar is not maintained.
Md Ishteaque, retired vice-chancellor of Magadh University, had earlier told The Wire, “It is true that there is an acute shortage of teachers in colleges. But despite this, if a vice-chancellor wishes to maintain the academic calendar, he can do so. Much depends on will power.”
Contractual teachers’ longstanding demands
There are 4,50,000 contractual teachers in primary and high schools in Bihar, who have been demanding equal pay from the government for equal work for a long time.
These teachers are the backbone of school education, as there are very few permanent teachers in Bihar.
In March this year, they went on strike for 15 days, but despite all assurances, their demand was not fulfilled. The number of permanent teachers in Bohar schools is about 50,000. Nearly two lakh permanent posts are vacant.
Contractual teachers march in February 2020. Photo: Special arrangement
Contractual teachers were appointed between 2003 and 2005. In 2005, they were installed as Shikshamitras. In 2006, Nitish Kumar created the category of contractual teacher and put Shikshamitras in that category. By 2010, a total of 4.5 lakh teachers were appointed in this category.
A teacher who teaches at a high school, on the condition of anonymity, said, “After 1996-1997, there has been no appointment of permanent teachers in Bihar. At present, the entire responsibility of primary education in Bihar is on the contractual teachers, but the government is not paying attention to us.”
“A permanent teacher gets a salary of Rs 55,000-60,000, but despite discharging the same responsibility, a contractual teacher gets only Rs 25,000-30,000. This is a sheer injustice,” he said.
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Another contractual teacher on electoral duty also refused to be named, citing the code of conduct, but said that there was a lot of resentment against the current government among contractual teachers.
“Tejashwi Yadav in his manifesto and election speeches has assured equal pay for equal work to contractual teachers, while Nitish Kumar is silent. Due to this, there is anger among teachers against the current regime and they are looking at Tejashwi Yadav with new hope,” he said.
Curious case of non-aided schools
During election reporting, The Wire team reached an unmarked shabby building in the rural areas of Patna, which turned out to be a middle school.
The only teacher present in the school, on the condition of anonymity, said that it is a non-aided school. Non-aided schools are those schools whose maintenance expenses and teachers’ salaries are not paid by the Bihar government. These schools get meagre money on the basis of how many students pass the matriculation examination every year. School teachers are paid their salaries from that money.
There are 715 non-aided schools operating in Bihar, in which 8,500 teachers and staff are working. A total of seven lakh students study in these schools. Among these students, a majority are Dalits and OBCs.
A non-aided school in Patna Rural. Photo: Umesh Kumar Ray
The teachers of these school said that if a student passes with first class in the matric examination, the government gives Rs 3,200. If the student passes with second division, then Rs 3,000 is given, and Rs 2,800 is paid if a student passes with third division.
One such school has been running in Vikramganj, Rohtas since 1978. Ramnaresh Pandey has been teaching at this school since 1985. He is now 60 years old. He told The Wire, “The result of our school is better than the government schools. Despite this, our condition is pathetic. It is difficult to run the house with the money we get. I am a farmer, so I farm in the morning and evening and teach children in the afternoon.”
Old teachers say that after independence, there was a severe shortage of schools in Bihar, so in many places the locals gave land and schools opened. Students’ parents formed a committee which used to run the school. In the early years of the 1990s, 3,083 such schools were acquired by the government, but 715 schools could not be acquired.
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“In the 1990s, the government said that they had no money, so the rest of the schools cannot be acquired, but they were accredited to run,” says Rajkishore Prasad Sahu, convenor of the Federation of Bihar Secondary Teachers and Non Teaching Staff Federation. In 2008, the Nitish government said that the government will pay salaries to teachers who are teaching in non-aided schools, but later retracted and made the rule that the government will pay schools on the basis of how many students pass the matriculation examination.
“The teachers are suffering because of government apathy. Their economic condition has gone from bad to worse, but no one is listening to them. Each school has nine teachers and three non-teaching staff. If 100 children pass in a year, you will get Rs 3 lakh. If this Rs 3 lakh is divided among 12 people, then a teacher will get about Rs 2,000 every month. How can a teacher survive on this money?” Sahu asked.
“The government has made a rule that the money it will give will has to be spent only on teachers. In such a situation, if money is required for the maintenance of the school and the furniture, then we have to spread our hands in front of the people of the village,” he said.
The teachers at non-aided schools are very upset with the dual treatment of the Nitish government. In this election, teachers are appealing to voters to vote against the NDA government.
Umesh Kumar Ray is an independent journalist.