State seeks Rs1k cr from Centre for school education

Patna: Bihar education minister Mithilesh Tiwari on Thursday sought Rs 1,120 crore in financial assistance from the Centre to strengthen school education infrastructure and expand quality education initiatives in the state during a meeting with Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi.During the meeting, Mithilesh informed Pradhan that the Bihar govt is implementing several initiatives under Saat Nischay-3 (2025-30), Unnat Shiksha-Ujjwal Bhavishya and the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. Pradhan assured him the proposals would be considered and appropriate action taken.The proposals include providing special uniforms to students of 542 Saraswati Vidya Niketan model schools with support from JEEViKA, establishing vocational education laboratories in 1,068 schools, setting up 2,577 ICT laboratories and expanding smart classroom facilities to 2,522 schools.The Bihar govt has also sought central assistance for remedial teaching programmes for students from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and minority communities, robotics and coding activities for girls, entrepreneurship training based on traditional arts, distribution of ‘Khel Pitara’ kits to primary school children and expansion of gender and equity-related facilities in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas.

Mithilesh said central assistance was essential to improve learning outcomes, strengthen digital infrastructure and ensure equitable access to modern educational facilities across Bihar. He added a special budget allocation would further reinforce the state’s school education system.The meeting was Mithilesh’s second with Pradhan since taking charge as Bihar’s education minister, reflecting the state’s efforts to secure greater central support for education infrastructure and quality improvement programmes.