Nitish Abandons Unaided Education Policy
Patna: March 31, 2008
The Nitish government, in a dramatic development on Monday, abandoned unaided education policy of the previous governments and announced financial grants for unaided schools and colleges making it possible for hundreds of thousands of unpaid teachers to start drawing grants between Rs. 2,000 to 5,000 for each successful student.
The announcement made by the Chief Minister in the state Assembly was greeted by both ruling and opposition parties members who said the move was way past due and would bring positive changes in the state's education system.
The new policy would go into effect immediately from tomorrow, April 1, the Chief Minister said.
More than 5,000 secondary and higher secondary schools would be affected by this policy costing the state exchequer an estimated amount of Rs. 150-200 crore each year, state Human Resources and Development principal secretary Anjani K Singh said.
The grants would be determined by the success rate of any school, Singh said adding Rs. 5,500 would be given to degree colleges for each student securing first division and Rs. 5,000 for each student getting second division. For each third division, the school would receive Rs. 4,500. An amount is 200-300 rupees more would be paid for each successful girl students, Singh said.
For higher secondary schools, the amount would be Rs. 4,500 for every first division, Rs. 4,000 for second divisions, and Rs. 3,500 for third divisions. For girls, an additional Rs 200 would be given in all the three categories.
Secondary schools would be getting a sum of Rs. 3,500 for every first division, Rs. 3,000 for second and Rs. 2,500 for third. An additional Rs. 200 would be given for girl students, Singh said.
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