More than 3 lakh students connected to Bihar Vidya Saathi app, mostly from villages: Education Minister

Education Minister Mr. Mithlesh Tiwari said that more than 3 lakh students have connected with Bihar Vidyarthi Saathi app recently. About 73% of them are students from rural areas. This figure is encouraging within a month of the app's launch.
A review meeting was held in the Bihar School Examination Committee auditorium on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Education Minister Mr. Tiwari. During this, various important issues related to the functioning of the committee, examination system, professional education and the educational future of the students were discussed. All officials including Education Department Secretary Mr. Rajeev Roshan and Bihar School Examination Board Chairman Mr. Tyag Rajan SM were present in the meeting. Special emphasis was placed on making the examination process more technology-based, transparent and secure. In order to strengthen the student identification and examination system, the preparation of linking Apar ID with Face ID and effective implementation at examination centers was reviewed.
The Education Minister laid special emphasis on aligning vocational education with employment and changing technical requirements. He directed extensive publicity to increase the awareness of vocational education among the students. He also emphasized on reviewing and removing old trade and courses which have become less useful in present time and adding new and employment oriented curriculum. These include advanced and skill-based courses like animation designing, AI, mobile repairing, robotics, electrical and electronics.
The meeting also discussed about encouraging talented students and providing them with high quality educational opportunities. The committee also considered providing letters by the committee to the students who passed first division in matriculation and intermediate. Efforts to facilitate admission to Samtilala Residential School to meritorious students were also emphasized. The Education Minister stressed the need to promote ITIs and industrial training as better career options. The meeting also discussed the reduction in the number of school dropouts. Emphasis was placed on developing an effective strategy to connect students who failed to reach 12th after 10th standard with further education or skill training. Development of incentives to keep students engaged in education was also discussed.
Timely release of CBT (Computer Based Test) based examination results was also discussed in the meeting. Emphasis was placed on making the examination process more efficient and ensuring timely publication of results through a technology-based examination system. Emphasis was placed on increasing access to quality educational support to students in rural and remote areas through digital means.