BSEB to improve quality of teaching

PATNA: The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), which is supposed to guide the destiny of more than a million boys and girls of the state, will no longer confine its activities only to the conduct of Class X and XII examinations, but will also strive to improve the quality of teaching in schools.

The sanctity of exams cannot be maintained without effective teaching in schools and colleges, said new chairman of BSEB A K P Yadav on Saturday. Yadav assumed office here on Friday.

He pointed out that the name Bihar School Examination Board is a misnomer as it entails only examination. But, actually, as per the provisions of the BSEB Act, the board is empowered to inspect the institutions with a view to maintaining the academic standard.

Hence, the BSEB would also look into the academic aspects of secondary and higher secondary education in the state and make every effort to raise their standards.

Yadav, who has all along been struggling for betterment of educational standards as a teacher activist (he has been general secretary of Patna University Teachers' Association, secretary of the Federation of University Service Teachers' Associations of Bihar and vice-president of the All India Federation of University and College Teachers' Organisations), observed that even though the BSEB has implemented CBSE pattern of examination, much remains to be done on the academic front.

The syllabi and text books of Class X and XII would be reviewed and, if needed, necessary modifications would be made to make them more student-friendly. The board would also consider the idea of holding refresher courses for teachers at regular interval.

Steps would be initiated to make classroom teaching more effective and create interest in students towards studies. If students are able to understand the lessons of their subjects well, they would never resort to unfair means in examinations, he said. The fear psychosis among school examinees would vanish automatically and then there would be no need of posting police and magistrates at the examination centres, he said.