Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Tuesday said government schools in the state that lack permanent buildings would be provided land for their own premises within six months.
The remarks came after several MLAs cutting across party lines highlighted the poor condition of government schools in the state during the Question Hour in the Assembly.
They said that the buildings of a large number of schools either have no buildings or have fallen into disrepair.
Intervening in the discussion, the chief minister said, "Government schools operating without permanent buildings will be provided land for their own premises within six months."
JD(U) MLA Manjeet Kumar Singh said 2,294 primary and middle schools in the state do not have their own buildings while 703 high schools and 3,000 higher secondary schools in 26 districts are functioning without their own buildings.
Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari responded that 2,276 primary schools and 792 higher secondary schools in the state lack their own buildings, but the government is working towards addressing the issue.
RJD MLA Kumar Sarvjeet said that approximately 40 per cent of school buildings in Bihar had collapsed, forcing schools to relocate to other villages.
He asked the government whether the department had ever reviewed the number of school buildings in each panchayat that had fallen into disrepair or collapsed.
BJP MLA Jibesh Kumar also raised the issue of lack of infrastructure in schools. "If a school has only two rooms and 500 to 600 children study in them, how can the quality of education improve?" he said.
CM Chaudhary said his predecessor Nitish Kumar had decided to establish high schools in all panchayats of the state. At the time, there were 600 to 700 schools which lacked their own land, he said.
"Therefore, it was decided to immediately start classes in those schools where even two rooms were available. Initially, classes were started up to Class 10, and later extended up to the intermediate level.
"Now, land-related issues of government schools will be resolved within six months," the chief minister added.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.