410 model schools to be set up in Bihar

The Bihar government has planned to set up 410 model schools and upgrade 750 primary schools to secondary level, the state human resources department said.

This would be done under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA), launched last year, for which the Centre would allocate around Rs 2000 crore to Bihar.

HRD Principal Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said the Centre would provide about Rs 1300 crore for opening 410 model secondary schools, each costing Rs 3.07 crore.

Singh said, Rs 30 lakh each would be spent on upgrading primary schools to secondary schools. For this, the state would need a minimum of 8,100 teachers, which would cost another Rs 100 crore per annum.

The objective of the RMSA is to achieve an enrolment ratio of 75 per cent for classes IX-X within five years by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation, to improve quality education imparted at secondary level by making all secondary schools conform to the prescribed norms, Singh said.
It was also aimed at removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, providing universal access to secondary level education by 2017 by the end of 12th five year plan and universal retention by 2020.