Education

Historically, Bihar has been a major centre of learning, home to the ancient universities of Nalanda (established in 450 CE), Odantapurā ( established in 550CE) andVikramshila (established in 783 AD).Unfortunately, that tradition of learning which had its origin from the time of Buddha or perhaps earlier, was lost during the medievalperiod when it is believed that marauding armies of the invaders destroyed these centres of learning.

Bihar saw a revival of its education system during the later part of the British rulewhen they established Patna University (established in 1917) which is the seventh oldest university of the Indian subcontinent.^[Some other centres of high learning established by the British rule are Patna College (established in 1839), Bihar School of Engineering (established in 1900; now known as National Institute of Technology, Patna), Prince of Wales Medical College (established in 1925; now Patna Medical College and Hospital), Science College, Patna (established in 1928) among others. After independence Bihar lost the pace in terms of establishing a centre of education. Modern Bihar has a grossly inadequate educational infrastructure creating a huge mismatch between demand and supply. This problem further gets compounded by the growing aspirations of the people and an increase in population. The craving for higher education among the general population of Bihar has led to a massive migration of the student community from the state.

Literacy rate from 1951~2001
Year	Total	Males	Females
1951	13.49	22.68	4.22
1961	21.95	35.85	8.11
1971	23.17	35.86	9.86
1981	32.32	47.11	16.61
1991	37.49	51.37	21.99
2001	47.53	60.32	33.57

Bihar being a comparatively less literate state in India, with women's literacy being only 33.57%, is striving to climb as the government has established various educational institutions. At the time of independence, women's literacy in Bihar was 4.22%. It is a pleasant surprise to find that in spite of the meagre investment on education in Bihar, specially compared to other Indian states, the students have done very well. Famed national institutes of learning such as IITs, IIMs, NITs and AIIMShave always have had a good representation from Bihar which is usually higher than their proportion of the population. Bihar has a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Patna and an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)in Patna. Other institutions of higher learning, and coveted positions in the government also show a greater share than the percentage of their population. A recent survey by Pratham rated the absorption of their teaching by the Bihar children better than those in other states.

Bihar established several new education institutes between 2006-2008. BIT Mesrastarted its Patna extension centre in September 2006. On 8 August 2008, IIT of India was inaugurated in Patna with students from all over India.  National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) is being set up in Hajipur. On 4 August 2008, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Patna was established as 9thNIFT of India. Chanakya National Law University a law university and Chandragupt Institute of Management a management institute was established in later half of 2008.Steps to revive the ancient Nalanda University as Nalanda International University is being taken for which countries like Japan, Korea and China have also taken initiatives. The Aryabhatt Knowledge University is almost framed to start in Patna this year to deal with technical & medical studies & research. The A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies is a premier research institute in the state.

Bihar is pioneer in the field of yoga with its internationally renowned institute Bihar School of Yoga in Munger.

Bihar e-Governance Services & Technologies (BeST) and the Government of Biharhave initiated a unique program to establish a centre of excellence called Bihar Knowledge Centre, a finishing school to equip students with the latest skills and customized short-term training programs at an affordable cost. The centre aims to attract every youth of the state to hone up their technical, professional and soft skills and prepare them for the present industry requirement/job market.