PATNA, Jan. 8 -- The newly created higher education department plans to set up degree colleges in all those blocks of the state, which have got none, and upgrade old institutions into centres of excellence (CoE), said a department official in the now of things. The moves are aligned with the third phase rollout of the Bihar government's 7-Resolves programme for 2025-30, announced by CM Nitish Kumar and approved by the cabinet. The 7-Resolves mandate creation of a separate higher education department, which has already been done, to improve governance and quality, upgrading old and prestigious institutions into (CoE)and establish a new education city in the state. "The issues were discussed at a review meeting chaired by the CM last week, who also gave certain suggestions. Things are being worked out to reduce the glaring rural-urban gap in higher education and improve accessibility and quality," said the official. The official said around 360 blocks had been identified in need of degree colleges, but opening that many institutions would not be feasible in one go. "The colleges will be opened in phases after prioritising the needs and resource availability," he added. In fact, the plan to set up degree colleges in all the uncovered blocks was initiated last year in March/April, as lack of them was found to be one of the prime reasons behind Bihar's abysmal gross enrolment ratio (GER) and migration of students. Earlier, the government had plans to start degree colleges in every sub-division, but not many could be opened even as years rolled by. In 2021, the government had also announced to start post-graduate teaching in at least one college in each of the 10 uncovered districts in view of growing demand and need to boost the GER. There is also plan to develop older reputed institutions into CoE, which would be called 'Institutions of Bihar Importance'. "Around 25 institutions have figured in discussions and the exact number would be decided after brainstorming," he added. For the prestigious Patna Science College, a proposal had already been moved at the level of the chief secretary last year, but it remains to be seen how things unfold. "The intent is positive, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. How things are implemented on ground will determine the outcome. The gap is big and real, and cosmetic approach will not suffice, as Bihar's own institutions are constantly lagging behind and missing the reforms," said former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies DM Diwakar. As per the 2019 report of the All India Survey for higher education (AISHE), Bihar had just seven colleges per lakh population with average enrolment of 1,703, while the number of colleges per lakh population was 51 in Andhra Pradesh, 59 in Karnataka, 48 in Kerala, 37 in Rajasthan, 34 in Maharashtra, 31 in Gujarat and UP and 30 in West Bengal. The 2019-20 report of AISHE had shown 0.9% increase in the percentage state GER, which has remained very low at less that 14% before that. Under the NEP, the target is to take GER to 50% nationally by 2035 for which Bihar seems way behind. "The problem with Bihar is that the existing institutions are floundering for decades due to missing campus ambiance, though the universities have adopted the reforms necessitated by the New Education Policy (NEP). First and the foremost is to restore teaching and then comes research. State of the art buildings may be good to have, but they cannot improve quality, which requires academics, quality leadership and staying relevant by timely adopting reforms," Diwakar added. In view of the falling academic ambiance, the Governor, in his capacity of Chancellor, also recently instructed the state universities to put all the details about the classes engaged by specific teachers on the official website along with the academic and exam calendar. Besides, there is also plan to encourage all the state universities to join Samarth portal, a versatile digital Platform by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, for streamlining admissions, exams, Human Resources and finance in the Indian universities in an integrated way, blending technology with policies and standards of governance in higher education....