Patna: Finance minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, in his budget speech in the state assembly on Tuesday for the 2026-27 fiscal, said the govt had been working to improve higher education in Bihar and had decided to develop and upgrade two existing universities into model institutions.Yadav said the two universities selected for the purpose were Patna University in Patna and Lalit Narayan Mishra University (LNMU) in Darbhanga. A sum of Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned for each university to initiate the upgradation process, he added. In line with this initiative, work was also underway for the modernisation and conservation of the Mithila Shodh Sansthan in Darbhanga.
He said the govt had recently constituted a separate higher education department by bifurcating it from the education department to improve quality and governance in the higher education sector.To facilitate access to higher education for needy students, the govt has also provided for interest-free education loans up to a maximum limit of Rs 4 lakh, which has attracted students towards pursuing higher education.As much as Rs 1,812 crore was allotted in the 2025-26 fiscal for loan disbursement among 52,616 candidates whose applications were selected. Of this amount, loans worth Rs 1,002 crore have already been disbursed to the selected students, Yadav said.The budget speech also mentioned the govt’s decision to open an Adarsh Vidyalaya (model school) in each of the 534 blocks under the Saat Nischay-3 programme adopted for the 2025-30 period.Under the same programme, a degree college would be opened in every block, while old and reputed educational institutions would be developed as centres of excellence. A decision has also been taken to develop an education city in the state under the Saat Nischay-3 programme.At the school education level, as many as 838 schools have been selected under the PM SHRI Schools scheme. These include 47 middle schools (Classes six to eight) and 789 higher secondary schools. The infrastructure of these schools would be upgraded and modern equipment installed to enable smart classrooms, drone training and language laboratories, among other facilities.In addition, one higher secondary school in each district, along with 47 others — making a total of 85 schools — would also be developed as model schools.
