PATNA: Bihar‘s poor Class 12 results this year have been shocking. Only 30% of those who took the science exam passed — thanks largely to hundreds of schools functioning without science teachers and laboratories remaining locked up for years.
There are only seven physics teachers in 3,500 government schools. And with most of these seven teachers posted in Patna, the rest of the state has almost no physics teachers, said an official. “Officially, there are no physics teachers in government-run Plus Two schools in the remaining 37 districts of Bihar. It is a pathetic situation,” the official said.
In about 1,045 higher secondary government schools, science laboratories are either locked or non-functional in the absence of basic infrastructure and resources, according to officials.
“All schools have been identified where no laboratory classes are conducted for students and laboratories are locked,” an education department official said. These schools never hold practical classes for science subjects as they have no functional laboratory. “Despite not holding practical classes, the students were given high marks in practicals that helped them secure good marks in the main Science subject,” an official said.
The condition of private colleges is no better.
Some Plus Two private colleges in the state are being run out of garages comprising three to four rooms. And all of these schools are affiliated to the Bihar School Examination Board.
