With several demands seeking a better and just Bihar, the Badlo Bihar Nyay Yatra was undertaken across several zones in the state. While the yatra struck a chord with the common people, students and youth felt a special connection with the initiative of CPIML, as it concerns their future, which they feel has been put at stake by the Nitish Kumar-led State Government. On the one hand we know that quality of education is considered a crucial parameter for assessing the level of development of a society, a region, a village or a caste group; on the other hand, we witness a blanket rejection of concerns related to education by the current Government of Bihar. We have to understand the way in which the sitting Government of Bihar has been indifferent towards the worsening quality of education.

This is precisely what was echoed in the voices of the youth, both young men and women students when Badlo Bihar Nyay Yatra crossed through the Magadh region. When the yatra halted at night in Lodipur, Tekari, I interacted with the primary school students of the Government School. Harsh Kumar, a bright student, retorted to my questions about the quality of education by saying that teachers worked like contractors. “Often, they come only to mark their attendance and leave without paying any heed to the school curriculum or classroom teaching,” he said. He also mentioned the appalling quality of the mid-day meals, remarking that when they complain to the officials about worms being found in the cooked rice, they shun their concerns and ask them to simply pick out the worm before consuming the food. When asked whether they have computers in school, they responded that they do but are not functional. The state of affairs of education in Bihar is not the burden of teachers alone, but that of the state government which has not taken any cognizance to the crumbling structures of all three levels of education, i.e., primary, secondary and higher education. What we need to take note of and question, is the intention, or the lack thereof, of the Nitish Kumar Government. While teacher absenteeism must be taken into account, several other infrastructural lapses which demotivate students must be addressed. There are teachers who are committed and do their jobs honestly, and are committed to impart rational, critical and scientific education in schools.

While the Nitish Government has failed to provide for the people of Bihar, despite the empty promises made, the same goes for the education system in the state. Why is the Jal-Nal scheme, which promises potable tap water, not implemented in schools? Why do students still have to rely on the age-old hand pumps for drinking water? It is only very recently that some schools got an electric submersible water supply system installed. And then there is the persistent problem of low enrolment and drop-out rates of students, which is apparent when many students are openly accepting that they do not attend school. We can already sense the gravity of the situation going by the 2023 survey conducted by the Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan that focussed on the state of primary education in Bihar. This survey, which sampled 81 Government and primary and upper primary schools in Bihar, found that the pupil attendance stood abysmally low at a meagre 20% on the day of the survey. It was seen that the students from poor and marginalised backgrounds had low attendance, which was due to the lack of infrastructure and other academic issues in schools. None of the schools met all the norms of Right to Education, including pupil to teacher ratio (one teacher per 30 students). It was seen that this ratio was met by only 5% of the upper primary school and 30% of the primary schools. When the survey was conducted, it was seen that only 58% of the teaching workforce was on duty. Despite the DBT (direct benefit transfer) scheme for students, the educational needs of children are not met as the poor economic state of the families compel them to choose between either using the amount for subsistence or school related provisions; often forced to go with the former. Poor quality of mid-day meals is another factor causing low attendance. Provision of mid-day meal was an incentivising factor for many underprivileged students to attend schools. Further 9% of the schools of the total sample size, shockingly, happen to have no building! COVID had a significant negative impact on an already substandard state of education. Teachers reported that students in classes between 1-5 had forgotten their basic reading and writing by the time the schools reopened. Thus, a lot needs to be done in terms of both policy and implementation level changes with respect to the state of Government schools of Bihar; towards which the current Government has turned a complete blind eye.

I was invited by the students of the Central University of South Bihar. And during that interaction I was told how the students feel alienated in their journeys of higher education. They lamented about their voicelessness, contrasting themselves with the students of JNU who through its student body – the JNUSU – have a way of having their issues, concerns and aspirations heard. “Any infrastructural or disciplinary qualms be it the lack of a 24/7 functioning library or curfew timings in the hostel get the consideration of the administration because the students can organise meetings, stage demonstrations and protest against any unfavourable development in the university”, they said. We know that restrictions on the students of higher education in the name of safety is also an impediment to quality education. There is a quote in Sanskrit – Sa vidya ya vimuktaye – which translates to “where there is education, there is freedom”. Speaking of impediments further, while the expectations from Central University of South Bihar were to change the course of higher education, with emphasis on the promise of rational and scientific education, what we witness is a Sangh endorsed appointments in faculty which is rampant in the University. Can we promise our youth a quality education with such right-wing ideology peddling faculties and our university spaces becoming an RSS “intellectuals’” presidio? The night we stayed near South Bihar Central University, the students of that university had organised a public meeting in Dharamshala village. In this meeting, issues such as exclusion of Bahujan students from education and NEP were to be discussed. But, they had to be on the watch, as surveillance on students and initiating action against them like proctorial enquiry for organising gatherings and talks would have negative repercussions on them. Students have not been able to voice their concerns in regard to the issues they face. I was also informed that there were very serious concerns of blade and needle being found in the hostel food, or casteism at different centres, etc., go unaddressed as there is no instituted student-oriented organisation like the JNUSU for complaint, redressal and betterment of students.

And most importantly, the problem of migrating students for quality education still weighs heavily on the development of Bihar. Students still are desperate to move out of Bihar and go to cities like Delhi where they trust that the quality of education is exponentially better.  South Bihar is known as the land of the enlightened one – Lord Buddha. How unfortunate it is that students of this region encounter such grave challenges for some of the basic and rightful provisions when it comes to quality education. And as JNUSU president I was pained to hear about such experiences of the students of Central University of South Bihar. Generally speaking, the problem which remains and ones that stood out for me in the course of my participation in Badlo Bihar Nyay Yatra was the systematic exclusion of students from marginalised and Bahujan backgrounds of Bihar from quality education.

This yatra is an attempt to cover the entire state and take note of the living condition of citizens of Bihar, issues concerning education is one aspect of it. The yatra is a ray of hope highlighting several issues; the issue of quality education and especially the voices of students resonated with me the most.