Based on a field survey conducted in five districts of Bihar and involving 1,119 respondents, this article examines the role of schemes initiated by the Bihar Government to achieve a dramatic transformation in female literacy. It argues that the schemes, though successful in taking care of economic factors that act as hurdles in the enrolment and retention of girls in schools, suffer limitations in their implementation and also overlook the importance of other factors that impact the girl child’s education, especially at the school level. At the same time, though there is an overemphasis on increasing the number of learners, the issue of quality in education has been grossly neglected. The article concludes that, in the long run, neglecting school-related factors and the quality of education defeats the real purpose of the schemes. Based on the study, some recommendations are also offered to manage the quantity–quality equilibrium in relation to girl child education.

基于在比哈尔邦五个地区进行的实地调查，涉及 1,119 名受访者，本文研究了比哈尔邦政府发起的计划在实现女性识字率的巨大转变方面的作用。它争辩说，这些计划虽然成功地解决了阻碍女童入学和留校的经济因素，但在实施过程中受到限制，并且也忽视了影响女童教育的其他因素的重要性，特别是在学校层面。同时，虽然过分强调增加学习者的数量，但教育质量问题却被严重忽视。文章的结论是，从长远来看，忽视学校相关因素和教育质量与计划的真正目的背道而驰。