Finally country’s eighth Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) got off to a flying start at Patna .Few would have believed that this transformation will happen so soon.This marks a beginning of a new era in technical and higher education in Bihar.

Altogether 108 students, including six girls, belonging to different parts of the country have taken admission to the Patna IIT which has started with three formal trades electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer sciences. Said Palak Agrawal, a student of computer sciences, “I hadn’t imagined, not even in the wildest of my dreams, that my hometown will get an IIT and I will be a proud student of this institute.”

In another development Bihar government has approved the allocation of Rs 586 million for the setting up of a branch of the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). In May this year, the cabinet had approved free-of-cost transfer of 10 acres of land from the agriculture department to the industries department for establishment of the NIFT branch, which will be the ninth in the country. NIFT has branches in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Rai Bareilly.

School and primary education in Bihar has also got boost with the new radio program titled English is Fun which is being used for teaching English to more than 67 lakh students in over 70,000 government schools. The results of the radio programme helping children learn English have been encouraging. The pre-launch survey indicated 47.9 per cent had average knowledge of English and only 10 per cent were good at the language. However, after the pilot programme, 73 per cent have average knowledge and more than 18 per cent are good.

Job market in Bihar has also undergone sea change in the last few years,this is truly demonstrated by the growth of private enterprises and manpower consulting firms in Bihar. the state government's labour department held a job-cum-career counselling Mela at the S K Memeorial Hall here. Around 26 private companies, including Reliance, HDFC, IBN Daksh, Wipro and ITC, were engaged in recruiting 2,000 youths. Around 10,000 boys and girls clutching their certificates were crowding the various stalls set up on the occasion.