Viral Video: Students Learn Hindi, Urdu On One Blackboard Simultaneously In Bihar School

In what could be termed as an absolutely sorry state of affairs, a video of two teachers splitting a board and teaching Hindi and Urdu languages has gone viral. The clip—which has been circulating on social media—is from a government school in Bihar.

Two teachers were teaching both—Hindi and Urdu—to a large class. The video gave the impression that the class was chaotic since the students were barely listening while a senior teacher tried to pacify the students by banging a stick on the desk.

Viral Video From Bihar School

The video is from the Adarsh Middle School in Katihar, where the two teachers had to share a single blackboard because of a lack of infrastructure. . When a prominent news agency reached out to the school, an assistant teacher Kumari Priyanka explained their ordeal.

She said, “Urdu Primary School was shifted to our school by Education Department in 2017. Teachers teach both Hindi and Urdu in one classroom.” She then elaborated, “Our school does not have enough classrooms and this is the reason we teach students in a single room.”

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When the department officials were questioned about the state of affairs of Adarsh Middle school, Kameshwar Gupta, district education officer pinned the blame on low rates of enrolment. He said that since enrolment at Adarsh Middle School was low, one room was given to the Urdu Primary School.

He was also quoted as saying, “It is not good if children of different classes are being taught on the same blackboard in the same room.”

Sorry State Of Education In Bihar

Bihar, historically, has been a major centre of learning however, the state of education is in a dilapidated condition at present.

According to a 2021 report released by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a total of 56% (nearly 2.2 lakh) teaching positions in government schools of Bihar were vacant; of that, 89% are in rural areas which is the highest across India. This has resulted in a poor student-teacher ratio in Bihar.

Official figures note that Bihar has 72,663 government schools, including 42,573 primary, 25,587 upper primary, 2,286 secondary and 2,217 senior secondary schools.