Patna: Bihar’s education minister Mithilesh Tiwari, in a conversation with TOI’s Adwitiya Deb, outlines his plans to improve learning outcomes, reduce dropouts, expand vocational education and strengthen govt schools. Excerpts:Learning outcomes remain a concern despite high enrolment. What is your immediate priority?Quality education is my foremost priority. We are strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy through partnerships with organisations to improve digital learning and AI-based education. The focus is on identifying learning gaps early, improving teacher training and ensuring that children develop strong reading, writing and numeracy skills. We want to ensure children receive education, values and employable skills and are prepared to compete globally and take leadership roles.How do you plan to improve teaching quality in govt schools?We need to identify our strongest teachers and use them more effectively. We are working on subject-wise teacher grading and strengthening training programmes. Teachers should not merely complete the syllabus; they should help shape the future of every child. Those taking additional academic responsibilities will be incentivised and supported. I believe teachers should be among the most capable professionals because they create every other profession.Bihar continues to witness dropouts after middle school. What is the strategy to keep students engaged?Not every child learns at the same pace or succeeds in the same field. We want teachers to identify students who are falling behind and provide additional support through bridge courses and extra classes. Students who need help should receive it within the school system itself, rather than opting for private coaching. We also want teachers to identify children’s interests early and guide them accordingly. If learning becomes engaging and relevant, dropout rates will come down.What role will vocational education play in your reforms?We are integrating skill development with school education through a partnership with the Skill Development Ministry. Students should leave school with employable skills. Whether it is mobile repair, technical services or other trades, education must create opportunities for livelihood as well as higher learning.Concerns over mid-day meal quality continue to surface. What changes are being introduced?There will be no compromise on quality. We have issued a new SOP fixing accountability at multiple levels, from district officials to headmasters. Digital reporting will be strengthened from July, supply chains will be monitored more closely, and inspections will be intensified to ensure standards are maintained.You have spoken about creating a ‘third eye’ for the department. What does that mean?Around 700-800 surplus teachers will be deployed for inspection and monitoring work. They will visit schools, observe classrooms, monitor Mid-Day Meals and submit digital reports. This will give us a clearer picture of what is happening in schools and improve accountability. This will act as a ‘third eye’ for the department and provide real-time feedback from the ground.Infrastructure remains a challenge in many govt schools. How do you plan to bridge the funding gap?Govt funding alone cannot transform every school. Through ‘Hamara Vidyalaya, Hamara Swabhiman’, we want alumni, public representatives and local communities to reconnect with the schools where they studied. We are also exploring crowdfunding and encouraging successful individuals to contribute to their former schools.You have also proposed public-private partnerships in education. How will that work?We are discussing PPP models with private institutions. One possibility is for private schools to support nearby govt schools through CSR initiatives and share expertise where needed. Govt and private institutions should progress together rather than function in isolation.Bihar was once a major centre of learning. What would success look like for you?Bihar has a rich knowledge tradition. Our goal is to ensure children here are not deprived of opportunities available elsewhere. We have to create such a system that people choose our institutions on their own because of the quality they offer. Keeping this in mind, we are developing 534 model schools for classes IX to XII across all the blocks in Bihar, which we ultimately aim to link with the Centre of Excellence that we have planned to build in Patna. Sessions are expected to begin soon. Merit-based subject teachers will be deployed to ensure strong academic standards. These institutions will have strong infrastructure, better classrooms, laboratories, libraries, ICT facilities, sports and extracurricular activities, while ensuring better academic support for specialised studies and counselling. If students believe they can build successful futures through Bihar’s govt schools and colleges, we will have achieved our goal.
