Abstract
Youth unemployment is a global issue and is related to higher education and employability skills which are imperative for socio-economic development of any state. The 2020 Assembly elections witnessed issues related to employment generation but amidst the uproar the public as well as the political parties neglected the issues related to accessibility of higher education as well as skill development which is a must to gain and retain the employment. In the 21st century it has become widely recognised that employability skills are a valuable asset that university graduates must acquire to secure graduate level employment. Bihar had a rich cultural and educational heritage and till today it holds the potential but the reason of its failure is the administration, outlook of people and channelisation of resources for its optimum utilisation.
Keywords: Higher Education, Skill development, Institutions, Bihar, Employment
Background
Bihar has been sharing same pace with the nation related to expansion of higher education institutions. However, the rate of growth remained relatively low and Bihar has witnessed a lopsided growth in terms of colleges for higher and professional education. Universities in the state increased from 2 to 18, colleges for general education from 50 to 817 and number of students enrolled in higher education showed an increment from 59,314 to 9,47,959. Number of faculty increased from 2,595 t0 24,099 but the pupil-teacher ratio showed negligible increase from 23 to 39 from 1955-56 to 2009-10. Bihar has witnessed a very marginal increase in the number of colleges for professional education with 27 colleges in 1956-57 to 214 in 2009-10. Although, the growth was quite impressive during the first 20 years of independence, but later on after 1970s it has shown a sluggish growth as compared to other states of the country.
With recent government initiatives like revival of Nalanda University and expanding base of professional institutions in the state holds great potential of reviving back the lost glory of Bihar and revival of its economy. If the quality of education is improved it will in turn increase the employability of the graduates and will generate employment leading to the holistic growth and revival of economy along with better standard of living, better working opportunities and decrease in migration of both educated as well and uneducated individuals.
History of Education in Bihar
Before commenting on the current situation of higher education in Bihar it is imperative to do a retrospective study and examine the state of education during different era. Bihar’s association with organised education and learning has a glorious history right from the Vedic era. Along with the Vedic education, 5th Century B.C witnessed the expansion of Buddhism and Jainism education which opened doors for public. Ashoka dynasty is a witness to the widespread practice of education in Magadh Empire. During 4th and 8th Century, it was a rich centre for education with three world class Universities (Nalanda, Vikramshila and Udantpuri) having their base spread in Bihar. The rich state of Bihar has given to the world great scholars like Aryabhatt and Varahmihira.
Bihar had the Sanskrit Chatushpadi and Madarsas for higher education and the Pathshalas and Maktabs for elementary education in the early Seventeenth century. According to great economist Buchanan kings ruling the state of Bihar (the Darbhanga Raja) provided grants for the education of pandits in his estates. Survey report of W. Adams conducted during the time frame 1837-38 stated that the State had a highly developed and widespread education system with at least one school in every village.
With the introduction of Macaulay’s minutes on Education in 1835 entire India witnessed a radical change as it had a direct impact on the content, methodology and medium of Indian Educational System. Wood’s dispatch in 1854 was introduced with the intention to spread the knowledge of English, Science and other European languages and it witnessed the establishment of Patna College in 1863 with affiliation from University of Calcutta. A survey training school was established in Bihar in 1886 which in 1900 was given the status of Bihar School of Engineering. In the year 1917 Patna College was granted the status of Patna University and since then numerous colleges were opened like Patna Science College (1928) and Patna Women’s College (1940) and renamed like Bihar College of Engineering (1932).
There was an era prior to independence when Patna University was called as Oxford of the East. Appleby, an expert during 1950s stated that Bihar was the best administered state in India and the period witnessed establishment of reputed academic institutions and big industrial projects like Bokaro Steel Plant and Barauni petroleum refinery and fertiliser unit, which provided employment to the locals.
With political interference, increasing role of student in politics, visible caste lines in the system and private parties funding the University system witnessed a downfall in the education system.
Education and Employability Skills: A Report
Education at all levels (primary, secondary and higher) is the first step towards improving quality of life, awareness level and level of skill of people in the society. Improved literacy and education level have a positive impact on overall development and productivity of a region and the society. Quality of education and Unemployment are major issues of concern for the development of any state. With time Bihar has lost its pre-eminent rich culture and education system is still below mark. For employment almost every class of worker be it daily labourers or educated and qualified individuals are moving out of the state to almost every part of the country. Among other drivers like better standard of living, wide scope of job and monetary benefits status of education in the State plays an impertinent role. Institutional capacity is one of the parameters to measure the progress of higher education (also the quality of higher education system) in any state along with the number of Universities and Colleges, Faculty, Gross Enrolment Rate (GER), pass outs rate, drop outs rate and placement rate.
Talking about the young people (below the age of 30) in Bihar, they have dominated the electorate in the last couple of years constituting 31% in 2015 Assembly elections and 24.61% in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and 30% in 2020 Assembly election. Still jobs and employment have been major poll issues, higher education holds negligible attention. It should be noted that in order to remain employable one needs to possess the requisite skills and for that he/ she needs sound education. Talking about Bihar, people in the last election showed tremendous concern towards unemployment rate but they forgot the issues related to skill development and education which is a very important factor to gain employment and retain it.
According to the report published by All India Higher Education Survey (AISHE) in 2019 Bihar’s Gross Enrolment ration (GER) stood in the bottom of the list at 13.6% which is much lower than the national average of 26.3%. Poor access to higher education amongst women in Bihar which is reflected in its Gender Parity Index (GPI) which stands at 0.81 (2013-14), 0.82 (2014-15), 0.80 (2015-16) and 0.79 (2018-19). The figure shows a decline in the GPI the reasons for the same can be both demand as well as supply related. Another concern is college density (number of colleges and eligible population (18-23 years) which is just seven colleges in Bihar per lakh eligible population against the national average being 28. Few institutions of higher education mean overcrowding of the existing colleges and universities (with average enrolment per college being 1616 in 2018-19), having an effect on the quality of higher education institutions as well as the quality of graduates.
If the higher education statistics of Bihar is compared to the nation and other states (equal in population density or size or per capita income) still it lacks way behind and needs tremendous attention towards improvement.
Table 1 portrays the true picture of the status of higher education in Bihar and if we consider employability criteria then major parameters are pass out rate which stood as 40% in 2012-13 and showed marginal improvement in 2018-19 to 45% and placement rate which stood at 27% in 2012-13 showed some potential around 2015-16 but again dropped down to 27.91% in 2018-19.
Table 1. Status of Higher Education in Bihar
|
Year |
Total Institutions |
Intake |
Enrolment |
Faculty |
Passed |
Placement |
|
|
Girls |
Boys |
||||||
|
2012-13 |
68 |
16878 |
3544 |
8148 |
1617 |
6804 |
1857 |
|
2013-14 |
74 |
20164 |
1719 |
8812 |
2193 |
7319 |
2229 |
|
2014-15 |
84 |
23792 |
2087 |
11077 |
2716 |
7296 |
2565 |
|
2015-16 |
96 |
26237 |
2745 |
14695 |
3063 |
8342 |
2929 |
|
2016-17 |
119 |
31097 |
2957 |
16245 |
5108 |
10750 |
3700 |
|
2017-18 |
125 |
32317 |
3051 |
16380 |
3614 |
10986 |
4075 |
|
2018-19 |
134 |
32292 |
3693 |
16501 |
3655 |
14386 |
4016 |
|
2019-20 |
165 |
37599 |
5139 |
22864 |
3998 |
NA |
4278 |
(Source: AISHE data compiled over the time frame)
Bihar is way behind when compared to its counterparts and much developed states like Gujarat and even Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.
For quality check of higher education, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) which is released yearly under Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is considered for the study in order to conduct a reality check for higher education institutions in Bihar. It is disappointing to quote that IIT Patna (ranked 54th ) is the only institution listed in top 100 institutions (NIRF, 2020). NIT, Patna is ranked 92nd in the top 100 list of engineering colleges. There is no other higher education institutions either in medical or law or even any other stream in the list. One of the major reason for the same is the lukewarm response to the participation of state institutions in NIRF as well as All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE).
Another disheartening report is showcased by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). The NAAC grade and the CGPA is an indicator of the absolute quality of the particular institution whereas the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) approved and launched by the MHRD, Govt. of India on 29th September 2015 indicates the relative status of the higher educational institutions. Out of the 18 universities in Bihar, Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna has been graded A with 3.15 CGPA with 4 Universities in B grade and one University in grade C.
It is evident that the situation of Bihar in terms of higher education institutions is very depressing. The current report of higher education in Bihar states low gross enrolment ratio especially among females, poor completion rate despite relative increase in expansion in higher education institutions.
With Bihar witnessing strong growth in per capita net state domestic product (NSDP) at a CAGR of 13.41% between 2015-21. With around 80% population employed in agricultural production the state still promises a large base for cost-effective industrial labour with promising sectors around like food processing, dairy, sugar, manufacturing and healthcare. Total FDI inflow for Bihar stood at US$ 16.28 million between October 2019 and June 2020. In 2019, eight investments were filed in the state worth Rs. 671 crore (US$ 96.01 million). Total merchandise export from the state stood at US$ 1,661.13 million in 2020. In 2020-21 (till July 2020), export stood at US$ 323.99 million (IBEF, 2020).
Conclusion :
Despite being way behind the national average and other states Bihar still has the potential for improvement, with change in the government post the Laloo Prasad Yadav regime, there has been improvements in the infrastructure and with decrease in crime rates (abduction, kidnapping, killing and extortion) the land of Bihar was seen holding potential for improvement. With decrease in the crime rate and increase in the opportunity for business and employment many people have considered Bihar as a ground of opportunity for investment. The state government in recent years has taken some initiatives in a planned manner to revive the higher education system in Bihar with BIT, Mesra (Patna Extension), IIM Bodhgaya, Central University of South Bihar and various other professional institutions establishing their base here. With currently 165 institutions of higher education, dominant population comprising of youth and available opportunities in Bihar there is still hope of improvement. The current government has been trying at ground level and there are talks and work going on for reviving world-famous Nalanda University. These ground level works will show significant improvement over time but optimum utilisation of available resources related to higher education can still significantly improve the condition of employability among the youth. With the state economy showing a growth trend and promising initiatives being taken up by both Central as well as the State government, Bihar holds a strong position to deliver back the glorious times and shine back.
References :
Author – Dr. Antra Singh
Ph.D. (Economics) ICSSR Post Doctoral Fellow
Picture – Internet
