Bihar Education Project Council : Pioneer of Educational Revolution in Bihar

Bihar has been presented as a challenge in the execution of any action plan.

- Er. Prabhat Kishore

In the 90s, all the indicators related to education in Bihar were negative. Enrollment rate was very low, especially among girls and those below the poverty line, and the dropout rate was the highest compared to the national ratio. The education system in the state was crippled due to community and administrative apathy towards schools. To deal with these difficult circumstances, the Government of India, Government of Bihar and UNICEF jointly accepted the challenge of universalization of primary education and in April 1991, the outline of an educational program called "Bihar Education Project" was designed. For the implementation and operation of this project, an autonomous statutory body “Bihar Education Project Council" was established on 13th May 1991 under the administrative control of the Education Department, Government of Bihar and a senior officer of the Indian Administrative Service was made its State Project Director. The main objective of the Council is -"To speed up the all-round development of Bihar through educational reconstruction.” The Council has seven core principles for managing and conducting the educational programs, namely - Education is a medium of change, everyone's support, teachers are the pivot of educational development, equality towards women and their empowerment, social justice and not administration but a mission. Under the banner of Bihar Education Project Council, the educational program named "Bihar Education Project (BEP)" was first launched in the year 1991-92 in three districts of the state, namely Ranchi, Rohtas and West Champaran. In fact, this project was India's first project for "Education for all" in the field of basic education. In 1992-93, the scope of the project was extended to four other districts, namely Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, East Singhbhum and Chatra. The tenure of this project was till 31 March 1998. Under the banner of the Council itself, on 2 October 1997, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, a new central sc