Simultala Awasiya Vidyalaya: Bihar’s dream project wiped out from toppers’ list, as lesser-known institutions excel

There was none in the list of toppers from the Simultala Awasiya Vidyalaya (SAV), a dream project of chief minister Nitish Kumar started in 2010 to provide quality education to talented students from across the state, who invariably don’t have access to well-equipeed schools in rural areas. It was meant to be an aspirational institution.

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Of the 28 toppers in the top five rank holders in the three streams of Science, Arts and Commerce, there is none from the SAV this year, while all the top positions, which also have handsome scholarships attached, have been bagged by hardworking students from lesser known government schools and colleges.

“The silver lining is that majority of them are girls from families with meagre income, indicating the craving for education and realisation of its potential to change life. Till 3-4 decades ago, the government schools and colleges produced the best of the lot to contribute in different spheres, because the teachers were devoted and respected, took pride in their work without outside interference and were not unnecessarily saddled with all kinds of non-academic activities,” said Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) retired professor pushpendra.

With an astonishing performance in the class 10 board examination, 2015, when 19 students secured more than 96% – a record since the inception of BSEab in 1952 – and 70 students secured 90% – 96%, the school, modelled on the lines of Netarahat Awasiya Vidyalay in the undivided Bihar and which went to Jharkhand after state’s bifurcation, had made a big statement.

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In 2017, when the school’s students participated in the Inter exams for the first time, a student, Khushboo became the science stream topper, and eight students from the school made it to the top 10.

Out of the 52 students who appeared for the 2017 Inter exams, 50 students passed with distinction marks. In 2018 SAV had rank holders in all three streams. However, its performance started dipping after that and for the last four years it has been virtually wiped out of the list of top performers.

In the Class 12 board this year, SAV students could not even top at the district level in any stream, with local schools and colleges grabbing the first positions in Jamui.

The slide of SAV is neither new nor unknown to the authorities concerned, but it has remained unabated, with enrolment also showing a dip in what was visualised as a pace-setting institution and at one point of time there was a move to make it affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

SAV has huge infrastructure, which other government schools can only envy, with 127 sanctioned posts on very handsome grade Pay for PGT/ TGT and non-teaching staff.

At the Class 11 level, the school has 120 seats, but the admissions have rarely crossed the halfway mark, which again points to the way it is perceived despite huge investment on it in a resource-starved state like Bihar where poverty prevents lakhs of students from good schooling.

Col BB Singh, who has been associated with the school since its inception, said it was difficult to understand about 85-90% out-of-school migration after Class 10 and the authorities, instead of dealing with the problem head on, experimenting with the concept of lateral entry at higher classes to justify creation of posts, but the result was for all to see.

“We feel pained when hear that even at the entry level the admissions are virtually hikacked by a few coaching institutes. In the beginning we have witnessed 32000 forms being sold for entry level admission in Class 6, but that has now dropped to one sixth. Recreating a Netarhat, where I also studied like many others, requires committed and passionate effort. Institution building is never easy, but it is worth the effort it requires,” he added.