Seasonal migration, poverty and faulty data: The triple burden on Bihar’s schoolchildren

By A Representative 

A dialogue held on 28 June 2026 in Wazirganj, Gaya (Bihar) brought into sharp focus the deep educational exclusion faced by children from historically marginalised communities at a time when national survey findings have already raised questions about the credibility of government school data. 

A recent government-backed education survey reported that more than a quarter of students in rural government schools claimed to pay course fees, a finding that contradicts the Right to Education norms mandating free schooling. The survey suggested that 26.7% of government school students reported fee expenditure, compared to over 90% in private schools. 

The rural–urban divide was striking, with only 29% of rural students reporting fee payments against 75% in urban areas. These inconsistencies have triggered debate among education experts, who warn that flawed data collection could distort policy decisions and weaken public trust in government schools.

Against this backdrop, the Wazirganj dialogue—attended by nearly 125 participants including teachers, education facilitators, social workers, community leaders and panchayat members—offered a ground-level view of the challenges faced by Musahar families, one of the most marginalised communities in Bihar. 

Speakers noted that even 78 years after Independence, many children from these communities remain first-generation learners still waiting for their first opportunity to enter formal schooling. Extreme poverty, seasonal migration, social discrimination and lack of access to basic services continue to push thousands of children out of school. 

Participants shared experiences of the barriers that prevent enrolment, the difficulties in bringing dropout children back, and the everyday struggles of connecting families with formal schools. They also shared stories of small but meaningful successes achieved through community engagement.

In two blocks of Gaya, 60 learning centres are currently being run for 2,000 Musahar girls who are either un-enrolled or have dropped out. These centres are operated by 54 facilitators who conduct door-to-door campaigns, counsel parents, coordinate with schools and local volunteers, and track families who migrate seasonally for work. 

Most of these families travel to brick kilns in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and other states, making continuity of education a major challenge. The initiative is supported by the SBI Foundation, which has been backing community-based interventions to strengthen access to schooling.

Leaders from the Right to Education Forum—Dr. Anil Rai, Rajeev Ranjan and Mitraranjan—participated in the dialogue and discussed the broader education landscape at the state and national levels. They emphasised the need for accurate educational data, stronger public schools, targeted support for marginalised communities and closer monitoring of dropout patterns. They also noted that misleading survey findings could weaken advocacy efforts for equitable education and obscure the real challenges faced by children on the margins.

The event also acknowledged the long-term work of Makeshwar Rawat, district convenor of the RTE Forum in Jamui and founder-secretary of Samagra Seva. Rawat has spent years addressing child labour, child marriage, education and health rights, and livelihood issues in marginalised communities across Gaya and Jamui. His efforts have contributed significantly to strengthening public systems and ensuring that the concerns of vulnerable families are brought into public discourse.

The convergence of questionable national survey data and the lived realities shared in Wazirganj underscores a critical truth: millions of children remain outside the education system despite constitutional guarantees and sixteen years of the Right to Education Act. Yet the dialogue offered a sense of hope. Teachers, facilitators and community leaders expressed determination to continue bridging gaps and ensuring that the most excluded children—especially girls—find their rightful place in schools.