Education Minister of Bihar: Initiatives, Goals and Vision

Sunil Kumar Singh is an Indian politician and former IPS officer. He is now the Education Minister of Bihar. He is elected as Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly from Bhore. He has also served as SSP for Patna district for over 6 years from 1997. In 2020 he retired as the Director General-cum-Managing Director, Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation,[1] after that he joined Janata Dal (United), political party. He completed his MA in History from St Stephen's College New Delhi in 1984. The major highlights and details tabulated below: 

An Overview of Education in Bihar: Objectives, Goals and Vision

Bihar is a land of wisdom. Department of Education, Bihar so happens to be managing to keep the glorious history of the state with what used to be in the golden era of Nalanda University and Vikramshila University. The department remains wary of education and related frames and infrastructures across the state. With five directorates and several apex bodies, the department had been working towards building a facilitative environment in which youth, women, and others would unfurl their knowledge and skills by pursuing primary, secondary, higher, and mass education.

Now, with the Right of Children To Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right To Education Act (RTE), this Department is working towards achieving free quality primary education to all children within the age group 6 to 14 years in the state, which has also implemented several innovative schemes such as Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Mukhyamantri Balak & Balika Cycle Yojana, Mukhyamantri Paribhraman Yojana,Mukhyamantri Poshak Yojana, Mukhyamantri Smagra Vidyalaya Vikas Yojana, Mukhyamantri Protsahan Yojana.

The strength of a state is not only in the amount of revenue but also the amount of education and the kind of character its people upholds. Hence, Department of Education, Bihar has been working hard with the ultimate goals to regain its past glory in the field of education so that the state can retain the meaning of Bihar, i.e. walk ahead with confidence and prosperity spreading the light of education as used to be in Buddha's era.

How Educated is the New Education Minister of Bihar?

Sunil Kumar is Bihar's Education Minister. He is the type of a distinction-seeker with a robust academic background and high professional experience. He graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, in 1984, with a Master's degree in History. An excellent academic record was a solid foundation for a long career in IPS, to which he joined in 1987. During his tenure, he held the distinction of being an SSP at Patna and even Director General-cum-Managing Director of Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation. 

After retirement, he entered politics by joining Janata Dal (United). He is MLA from Bhore constituency, Gopalganj since Bihar Assembly elections 2020. His political career himself serves as a combination of administrative acumen with a commitment to the service of public and has held a series of important responsibilities, starting from Minister for Prohibition and Registration to the present role of Education Minister for Bihar. It is the fusion of academic expertise, the law, and enforcement background along with the political savvy that makes him important for having Bihar's educational map defined by himself.

Literacy Rate in Bihar: 1951 to 2011

The data is tabulated below: 

Total Literacy rate in Bihar is 69.83%. Overall,  Male and Female literacy rate in the state is 70.32% and 53.57%. Total Rural literacy rate is 43.9%. In rural area of Bihar, Male and Female literacy rate is 57.1 and 29.6. Total Urban literacy rate is 71.9. In urban area of Bihar, Male and Female literacy rate is 79.9 and 62.6 respectively. Total literacy in Bihar is 3,16,75,607 which comprises of 2,09,78,955 Male and 1,06,96,652 Female. Patna has highest Literacy Rate of 63.82% followed by Rohtas (62.36%) and Munger (60.11%). Kishanganj has lowest Literacy Rate of 31.02% followed by Araria (34.94%) and Katihar (35.29%). A recent survey by rated the receptivity of Bihari children to their teaching as being better than those in other states. Bihar is striving to increase the state of female literacy, which currently stands at 53.3%. Women's literacy in Bihar at the time of independence had been a meagre 4.22%.

List of Education Ministers of Bihar

The comprehensive list of Education Ministers of Bihar is numbered below: 

1. Acharya Badrinath Verma            
2. Satyendra Narayan Sinha    
3. Satyendra Narayan Sinha   
4. Karpoori Thakur   
5. Satish Prasad Singh    
6. Dr.Ramrajsingh
7. Bindeshwari Dubey
8. Vidyakaar Kavi   
9. Dr. Ramraj singh    
10. Nasiruddin Haider Khan  
11. Karamchand Bhagat   
12. Nagendra Jha   
13. Uma Pandey      
14.  Lokesh Nath Jha        
15.  Nagendra Jha 
16.  Dr. Diwakar Prasad Singh
17. Rashtriya Janata Dal
18. Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav  
19.  Ram lashan ram raman    
20. Brishin Patel    
21. Hari Narayan Singh    
22. Prashant Kumar Shahi    
23. Prashant Kumar Sahi    
24. Ashok Choudhary   
25. Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma    
26. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary   
27.  Chandrashekhar Yadav
28. Alok Kumar Mehta
29. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary 
30. Sunil Kumar