Mr. Subramanian said the government has also taken steps to ensure that the Bihar school examination board follows the CBSE syllabus from the next session.

"All this has been made possible due to the interest shown by Governor Buta Singh for improving education in Bihar," he said.

The long wait is over with the administration finally allowing post-graduate teaching in private medical colleges of the state. Till now, PG teaching has been done only in government-run medical institutions.

To begin with, the medical education department has issued `essentiality certificate' to a medical college in Katihar for starting PG courses in anatomy, pharmacology, pathology, micro-biology, preventive and social medicine, general medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, radiology, anaesthesia and orthopaedics.

President's Rule also brought cheers for teachers of colleges and universities in the State with the Centre releasing Rs. 50 crore to the State government for payment of salary difference following implementation of UGC scales. The amount will be paid as arrear for the period between January 1, 1996 and March 31, 2000.

Higher education secretary Navin Verma said out of an arrear of Rs. 112 crores, the Centre would provide 80 per cent and the State would provide the remaining amount as grant.

With a thrust on improving teaching at primary level, the state administration has also decided to appoint over 85,450 `Shiksha Mitras' in 38 districts across the state.

The appointments will be made through Panchayats, official sources said.

The government also decided on amalgamation of separate academies of different languages like Bhojpuri academy, Sanskrit academy and South Indian language academy for better administrative control and functioning.

Sufficient funds are also being allotted to madarsas and Sanskrit schools to improve their condition.

Patna University has also decided to set up a well-equipped Braille library to help visually challenged students pursue their education. It will also provide them tape recorders to record classroom lectures, according to Vice-Chancellor J. Thakur.