Bihar to revive Gandhian schools

PATNA: Bihar has begun a move to revive 391 Buniyadi Vidyalayas (also known as basic schools) that were built in accordance with Mahatma Gandhi's concept of providing elementary holistic education to every child.The schools were meant to provide education that connected seamlessly with lives of children. Training in spinning, carpentry, farming and weaving was also part of the pedagogy in these schools. Here, teachers were also expected to have skills in different crafts Now, the government will run 122 'model' schools in the already existing basic schools to give them a new lease of life. "After the central government approved 122 model schools, the state government has decided to run them in the basic schools set up on Gandhian principles," Bihar Education Minister P.K. Shahi said on 22 October. Shahi said decades of neglect had caused the standard of the basic schools to drop.

Nitish Kumar set up a three-member committee last year to come up with concrete plans to revive these schools. It submitted its report recently, and the chief minister expressed shock that of the 391 Buniyadi Vidyalayas, hardly any was functional.There were plans to revive the basic schools that were also part of the Common School System the government wanted to implement. But this too has remained on paper.Amarjeet Sinha, principal secretary, education department, said the government would revive the schools in earnest.

Source: IANS