Education
Main articles: Education in Bihar and Literacy in Bihar See also: List of educational institutions in BiharHistorically, Bihar has been a major centre of learning, home to the ancient universities of Nalanda, Odantapurā and Vikramshila . This tradition of learning may have been had stultified by the period of Turkic invasions c. 1000 CE at which point it is believed major education centres (now maintained by reclusive communities of Buddhist monks removed from the local populace) were put out of operation during the Turkic raids originating from central Asia . The current state of education and research is not satisfactory though the current state government claims big achievements in school education.
Bihar saw a revival of its education system during the later part of the British rule when they established Patna University (established in 1917) which is the seventh oldest university of the Indian subcontinent. Some other centers of high learning established by the British rule are Patna College (established in 1839), Bihar School of Engineering (established in 1900; now known as National Institute of Technology, Patna), Prince of Wales Medical College (1925; now Patna Medical College and Hospital), Science College, Patna (1928) among others.
After independence Bihar lost the pace in terms of establishing a centre of education. Modern Bihar has a grossly inadequate educational infrastructure creating a huge mismatch between demand and supply. This problem further gets compounded by the growing aspirations of the people and an increase in population. The craving for higher education among the general population of Bihar has led to a massive migration of the student community from the state.
| Year | Total | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 21.95 | 35.85 | 8.11 |
| 1971 | 23.17 | 35.86 | 9.86 |
| 1981 | 32.32 | 47.11 | 16.61 |
| 1991 | 37.49 | 51.37 | 21.99 |
| 2001 | 47.53 | 60.32 | 33.57 |
| 2011 | 63.82 | 73.39 | 53.33 |
Bihar, with female literacy at 53.3%, is striving to climb as the government has established educational institutions. At the time of independence, women's literacy in Bihar was 4.22%. Bihar has a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Patna and an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Patna. A recent survey by Pratham rated the absorption of their teaching by the Bihar children better than those in other states.
As on date, there are six engineering colleges for boys and one for girls in public sector and nine others in the private sector in Bihar. The overall annual intake of these technical institutes offering engineering education to students in Bihar is merely 4,559. As it is, the seventh engineering college of the state government would start its first session from July 2012 at Chhapra, while the process to create infrastructure for three new engineering colleges — one each at Madhepura, Begusarai and Sitamarhi — has started.
Bihar established several new education institutes between 2006 and 2008. BIT Mesra started its Patna extension center in September 2006. On 8 August 2008, IIT was inaugurated in Patna with students from all over India. NSIT opened its new college in Bihta, which is now emerging as a new education hub in Bihar, in 2008. BCE, Bhagalpur and MIT, Muzaffarpur are also prominent engineering colleges in Bihar. National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) is being set up in Hajipur. On 4 August 2008, National Institute of Fashion Technology Patna was established as ninth such institute in India. Chanakya National Law University a law university and Chandragupt Institute of Management was established in later half of 2008. Steps to revive the ancient Nalanda University as Nalanda International University is being taken; countries like Japan, Korea and China have also taken initiatives. The Aryabhatt Knowledge University in Patna is framed to which all the engineering as well medical colleges are affiliated in Bihar. The A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies is a premier research institute in the state.
Bihar is pioneer in the field of yoga with its internationally renowned institute Bihar School of Yoga in Munger.
Bihar e-Governance Services & Technologies (BeST) and the Government of Bihar have initiated a unique program to establish a center of excellence called Bihar Knowledge Center, a finishing school to equip students with the latest skills and customized short-term training programs at an affordable cost. The center aims to attract every youth of the state to hone up their technical, professional and soft skills and prepare them for the present industry requirement/job market.
Bihar also has Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology(CIPET) and Institute of Hotel Management(a Central govt Unit) in Hajipur.
One of India's premier medical institute - AIIMS Patna started functioning in Patna. It is in line with AIIMS, New Delhi.
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