Last year's topper scam had blemished the name of the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) but the government has taken corrective steps since, chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday.
Nitish's admission came while he remote-laid foundation stones for examination halls-cum-regional centres at nine divisional headquarters from the Samvad in Patna on Tuesday.
"The merit scam was a blot on our education system, but we have learnt from our failures," he said. "The state government has taken corrective steps. Senior officials, including the then BSEB chairman, were punished for their wrongdoing, which reinforces our commitment to provide quality education to the students."
Following the scam, which exposed the nexus between BSEB officials and teachers of different Intermediate schools or colleges in altering results, the BSEB took various steps, including decentralisation of the examination board, online evaluation and digitalisation of certificates and mark-sheets.
The chief minister added that government school students have as much potential to succeed and do well as private school students.
The examination halls - foundation of which Nitish laid from Patna on Tuesday - will be built in the Patna, Magadh (Gaya), Saran (Chhapra), Tirhut (Muzaffarpur), Darbhanga, Kosi (Saharsa), Purnea, Bhagalpur and Munger divisions.
The examination halls will be able to accommodate around 5,000 students and will have closed-circuit television cameras. Between different examinations, the halls will be used to store examination papers or for correcting answer sheets.
As the facilities are being constructed at the division headquarters, centralised evaluation of answer sheets will also become possible.
The nine regional centres will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 134 crore.
The Bihar State Educational Infrastructure Development Corporation has been assigned the task to design the centres and construct the buildings.
Five of the nine centres will be five-storied buildings and the rest four-storied.
Students taking the Matriculation or Intermediate examinations will no longer be required to come to Patna for examination-related queries.
A senior BSEB officer said: "Examination and certificate related issues, such as correction of names, addresses, dates of birth, will be sorted out at the regional centres."
Nitish also launched the digital locker facility for the certificates and documents of the Matriculation and Intermediate examination candidates.
The digital lockers - an online storage account much like a regular email account - will streamline the process of carrying physical files and attesting and verifying numerous copies.
The board has decided to make certificates and mark-sheets available online for a 12-year period through these digital lockers.
Prem Prakash, an undergraduate student at Patna College, said: "We heard the BSEB will upload mark sheets and certificates issued between 2005 and 2016 online. It will be of great help to students."
The board has already announced its decision to evaluate answer sheets digitally and identify the papers via bar codes at the time so that results are not fudged.
