Education rights network appeals to candidates to champion public schooling in Bihar

By A Representative

The Right to Education Forum (RTEF), Bihar, has released a public education charter addressed to all contesting candidates in the ongoing Bihar Assembly elections, urging them to commit to strengthening the right to education and ensuring universal, equitable, and quality schooling for all children. The Forum, a national network advocating for the protection and promotion of the right to education and quality public schooling, said it developed the charter after consultations with coordinators, core committee members, educationists, and stakeholders across various districts. The RTEF appealed to candidates to raise these issues both inside and outside the legislature if elected.

The 25-point charter includes demands for 100 percent school enrollment and zero dropout up to Class 12, improvement in the quality of education, and the immediate halt of school mergers or closures. It seeks the establishment of new schools where needed so that no child is deprived of quality education. The Forum has also called for equal schooling systems in all institutions, ensuring that every school meets minimum infrastructure standards and that qualified subject-wise teachers are available in every school.

The demands further include timely provision of textbooks and uniforms to all students, ensuring accessibility and inclusion for children with disabilities, and facilitating admissions to nearby secondary and higher secondary schools without unnecessary online or bureaucratic hurdles. The Forum emphasized that all students should have proper seating arrangements and hygienic facilities for mid-day meals.

The memorandum highlights the need to address the growing distance between privileged communities and government schools, to regularize and support school staff such as clerks and sanitation workers, and to ensure that administrative structures support teaching and learning rather than control them. It also calls for training and proper working facilities for school management committee members, inclusive education practices to overcome social, cultural, economic, and gender discrimination, and full infrastructure for all Anganwadi centres including safe drinking water and toilets.

The RTEF has urged the Bihar government to regulate the commercialization of private schools and to allocate at least 25 percent of the state budget to education. The Forum expressed hope that all political candidates will prioritize children’s rights and work collectively toward a strong, inclusive, and accountable public education system in Bihar.

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