Unnayan Bihar

Education in many parts of rural Bihar has long faced serious challenges: low attendance, lack of teacher-capacity, rote learning, poor infrastructure. In this context, Unnayan Bihar — first known as Unnayan Banka — stands out as an illustrative case of how innovation, leadership, and technology can spark system-level change.

Genesis: How It Started in Banka

• Initiators: The project was conceived by District Magistrate Kundan Kumar in collaboration with Eckovation, an IIT-founded education-technology startup.
• Launch: It began on 15 August 2017 in five government schools in Banka district, Bihar. These were senior secondary schools with at least some infrastructure like computer rooms. Classes IX and X students were the initial beneficiaries.

• Model / Methodology:
  • Use of interactive video and audio-visual content (science, maths, social studies) mapped to the school curriculum.
  • Daily sessions (Monday-Saturday), of around 1.5 hours in many schools. Students watch videos, take notes, participate, and have quizzes. Some classes use OMR sheets (objective questions) to assess what students learnt that day.
  • Teachers evaluate or facilitate peer evaluation of the quizzes; there’s also a centralised tracking / digital report card system via the Eckovation app to monitor performance.
  • Doubt clearing: Students can raise doubts and interact via the app or platform; there is data analytics involved to highlight weak areas and suggest improvements.

Early Expansion within Banka

• After positive early results, particularly in attendance and exam pass percentages, demand from other schools and feedback from teachers and parents pushed for expansion.
• From the initial five schools, Unnayan was expanded first to ~40 schools in Banka. Soon after, it covered all 143 senior secondary government schools in Banka district for classes IX and X.
• The model was also extended to include Class IX (not just Class X).

Statewide Scaling: Unnayan Bihar

• Seeing the success in Banka, the Bihar state government decided to adopt and scale the model. In 2019, under the name Unnayan Bihar, the project was rolled out to thousands of government secondary/high secondary schools across Bihar.
• Number of schools: Over 3,100 government secondary schools were selected initially for expansion. Later reports mention about 6,000 schools being covered in Bihar under the Unnayan model.
• Facilities & Infrastructure: The expansion involved providing smart infrastructure — smart TVs or LED TVs, eContent/software linked to the curriculum, in many cases ensuring internet connectivity or offline content, UPS/inverter backup, etc.
• Training: Teachers were trained (in methodology, use of eContent) via State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and other bodies. District programme officers (DPOs) and other administrative levels also involved in monitoring.

Impact: What Changed

• Attendance: There was a marked increase in school attendance in Banka after Unnayan. Schools that had very low attendance saw significant rise.
• Exam Results: Pass percentages improved in Class X board exams in Banka. For example, in some schools the improvement was 15-25%. One of the pilot schools saw pass percentage jump from about ~58% to ~92%.
• Student Motivation & Participation: Students began to engage more in classes; the video + interactive format helped reduce monotony. Teachers reported that students came to school more regularly.
• Gender Inclusion: Especially for girls in remote/troubled areas, there were stories of greater enrollment and participation, which earlier had been low. Some schools noted more girls attending, motivated by this enhanced mode of learning.

Recognition & Awards

• Unnayan Banka won international recognition: for example, the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management’s International Innovation Award (2018) in the “Innovation & Incubation” category.
• Prime Minister’s Excellence Award
• Kalam Innovation Award

Speaking Blackboard – Documentary Film on Unnayan Bihar

Lessons & Key Factors Behind Success

• Strong Local Leadership: Having a committed District Magistrate (DM) like Kundan Kumar and passionate founder Ritesh Singh, Eckovation who was engaged with the project, pushing for scale, monitoring, and resolving implementation issues.
• Use of Existing Infrastructure: Rather than building everything anew, the project made use of existing computer rooms, schools, TVs/rooms, etc. This reduced costs and enabled faster rollout.
• Technology + Data Analytics: Digital tracking, report cards, app-based monitoring of student scores, attendance, and feedback loops helped in identifying weak areas and responding.
• Community & Teacher Engagement: Engaging teachers, getting feedback, motivating them, involving parents and students helped build trust and acceptance.

Current Status & Further Expansion

• As of recent reports (~2019), the model has been adopted in thousands of schools across Bihar (3,106 to 6,000+ schools depending on source).
• The project has been extended to include lower classes (e.g. Class IX) and in some places the aim is to include Classes 11-12 as well.
• Many other Indian states are replicating the model. The central government scheme Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) was to be used to scale Unnayan-like models in about 5,000 villages/schools nationwide.