Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday set a goal to increase gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education in the state.


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Kumar set the priority at a review meeting of education department, an official release said quoting Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh.


The chief minister has laid stress on several occasions earlier to increase GER in higher education to 30-40 per cent. Unofficial reports suggest that the GER in higher education in Bihar is about 8 per cent against the national average of about 20 per cent.


The GER is the ratio of students between 18 and 23 years of age enrolled in higher education institutions against the entire population in that age group.


In primary and secondary education, the enrolment ratio is nearly 100 per cent in the state.


At the meeting, Kumar said student credit card scheme under which Rs 4 lakh interest-free loan is given to a youth to pursue higher education and post-matriculation scholarship would be implemented in a more focused manner through a registered society, the release said.


The chief minister said e-learning would soon start in schools for promoting quality education in mathematics, science and English.


Initially it would be started as a pilot project and expanded latter on, Kumar said at the meeting attended by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Education Minister Krishnandan Varma, Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and Development Commissioner Shishir Sinha.


After successfully constructing toilets in all schools in the state, the government would install overhead water tanks in 53,000 schools for regularly cleaning the toilets.


On the dismal results in matriculation examination this year in which only 37 per cent passed, Kumar said schools with poor performance would be identified and education officers, principal and teachers would be penalised.


He instructed Bihar Examination Board to make available model question papers along with answer. He also stressed on improving conduct of examination and evaluation process.


As part of centenary celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha, a programme "Bapu Apke Dwar" (Bapu on your doors) would be launched from October 2.


Programmes on Gandhi would also be organised in all the secondary and higher education schools.