'We are sitting on volcano', says Bihar Education minister

Regretting lack of quality education that hindered progress of a staggering 20 million school children in Bihar, Education minister P K Shahi said the state was "sitting on volcano" and corrective measures should be taken to improve the system.
"We have a staggering 20 million students studying in schools from Class I to X for which we must provide quality education and equip them with linguistic skills to enhance their prospects," Shahi said at a function felicitating 120 teachers, who were trained in English teaching under the Bihar Language Initiative in Secondary Schools (BLISS) project.
"We must address aspirations of our students for better education otherwise we are sitting on a volcano," he said referring to high number of students enrolled in schools with 90 per cent transit rate in higher classes every year.

While efforts have been going on to improve the quality of education for the school children by the Education department, there was concern about how the students could be equipped with languages in view of its potential to improve career prospects, Shahi said.
It was in this context that the state Education department signed an agreement with the UK Government's Department For International Development (DFID) to undertake the English teaching programme for the teachers in Bihar, Shahi said.
However, the state will need many more teachers, proficient in English language, to teach a large number of students in the remote areas of Bihar, the minister added.

Speaking on the occasion, British Council (India) Director Rob Lynes, stressed on the knowledge of English language among the teachers and students in Bihar and said that the project was launched to provide English teaching skills to the teachers during in-service training under the BLISS project.