The Bihar government has approved to increase 20,000 seats for undergraduates in colleges under four universities of the state. The decision has been taken amid severe shortage of teachers in state colleges, where they are working only at 50 per cent of the sanctioned strength. Bihar Education Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the state government has received proposals from various universities to increase the seats, Hindustan Times reports.
“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been consistently emphasizing on the need to increase the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education in the state and the decision in this regard is significant. This will ensure that students do not have to wander due to lack of seats in colleges,” Choudhary told the news agency.
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According to the report, out of the 20,000 increased seats, 41 colleges under Lalit Narayan Mithila University (Darbhanga) saw the maximum increase, where 10,200 new seats have been created. 4,736 seats have been increased in 19 colleges of Jaypee University (Chhapra), while 3,388 seats have been increased in 11 colleges of TM Bhagalpur University.
While the creation of new seats is good for the students, Bihar has been facing a shortage of teachers for decades, affecting the state’s education system. Federation of University Teachers Association of Bihar (FUTAB) working president KB Sinha said the increase in college seats also demands expansion of the number of teachers in the state. He said that the government should also work in that direction to maintain the student-teacher balance.
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Sinha also highlighted the slow recruitment process of teachers, highlighting that it defeats the purpose as a large number of old teachers retire at the time of new joining.
Approval has also been given to increase the graduation seats in Patna colleges. 505 new seats have been received in four colleges of Patna University, while now there will be 180 more seats in Patna College. Patna Women’s College can also create 260 more seats and Patna Science College has got approval to increase 60 seats.
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