Need for Temples of Learning in Bihar
by
Manish Kumar
Chennai, India
June 22, 2006
The
Bihar government is putting lot of efforts to
attract business through give-away programs like
- tax credits and grants for infrastructure etc.
But even when Bihar give them sugar coated tax
deals, business and investment is not going to
this poorest state because businesses want a
strong educational system (apart from sound
administration and better infrastructure
facilities) for their workers and managers. To
attract business, a state like Bihar needs a
good transportation and communications system, a
top-notch education system (in which Bihar is
lagging manifold), a well-trained work force
etc. The economic health of Bihar depends upon
the investment in education system i.e.
investment in temple of learning’s. Bihar must
support the public school fully and must make
sure that every child should succeed. It must
invest heavily in colleges and universities.
Bihar must be competitive in terms of higher
education and research based study. The data
given above regarding the number of technical
institutes, legal centres, research institutions
etc reflects the current and pathetic situation
of Bihar. There is so much being written about
Bihari’s talent in the field technology,
medicine, research, etc. However, little
attention has been paid as to the Bihar
education system and temples of learning. None
of Bihar universities occupies a solid position
at the top in India. Bihar colleges and
universities have become large, under-funded,
ungovernable institutions. At many of them,
politics has intruded into campus life,
influencing academic appointments and decisions
across levels. Under-investment in libraries,
information technology, laboratories, and
classrooms makes it very difficult to provide
top-quality instruction or engage in
cutting-edge teaching and research. Few in Bihar
are thinking creatively about higher education.
There is no field of higher education research.
Those in government as well as academic leaders
seem content to do the "same old thing."
Now as Bihar strives to compete with other
developing and developed states of India, in the
knowledge-based economy of the 21st century it
require highly trained professionals, enough
universities, good technical and management
institutions, research labs, economics and
development institutes etc. The quality of
higher education becomes increasingly important.
In broader terms, Bihar needs more and more
temples of learning. The ancient Nalanda and
Vikaramshila University in Bihar was a centre of
learning that drew students from across the
world. If Bihar and India Government takes
initiative in opening up of new temples of
learning and providing sufficient funds backed
with sound administration to the existing
educational system then that day is no far when
it will bring back students who migrate to other
states in search of better opportunities, the
day is no far when Bihar will be standing in the
first row in every walks of life whether its
research, or job opportunities, or top notch
colleges and universities, the days is no far
when we can witness investment happening in
Bihar, and finally the days of academic glory
will be back.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org;
www.google.com; websites of different
institutions;
“New institutions in India”, Nirupa Sen, Current
Science, Vol. 81, No. 8, 25 October 2001.
“Proud to be Bihari: Five good things about the
much-maligned state”, Kanhaih Bhelari, The Week,
June 2003
“Why Biharis are Discriminated”, Prabhat
Kumar Sinha, Readers Write, PatnaDaily.Com April
30, 2005.
“The economic strangulation of Bihar”, Mohan
Guruswamy, Abhishek Kaul, Business Line,
Saturday, Feb 07, 2004.
The author is a research scholar at IIT Madras
and can be contacted atthis email address.
Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
|
|
