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Abstract
Bihar is the twelfth largest state in India with an area of 98,163 square kilometres (Census of India, 2011). The river Ganga divides the state into two natural regions: North Ganga plain and South Ganga plain. Administratively, the state has been divided into 9 divisions, 38 districts, 101 sub-division, 534 blocks, 8,471 Panchayats and 45,103 revenue villages (Govt. of Bihar). Demographically, it is the third most populous state in the country with a population of 103,404,637 with 54,185, 347 male and 49,619,290 female populations. Bihar has a population density of 1,102 persons per square kilometre (Census of India, 2011). Schedule Castes (SCs) constitute 15.9% of the total population whereas Schedule Tribes (STs) constitute only 1.28% of the total population. The percentage of Muslims in the state is 16.53% (Census of India, 2001). The population in the age group of 0-14 years in Bihar amounts to 37.3%: respectively 37.4% and 37.1% male and female. Bihar is a predominantly rural society with 88.7% of the population living in the villages (Census of India, 2011). According to the Census of India (2011), literacy rate of Bihar is 63.8%, (73.4% male and 53.3 % female). Literacy rate in urban areas is 78.75% (84.42% male and 72.36% female); in rural areas it accounts for 61.83% (male 71.90% and female 50.82%). The District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the Bihar Education Project (BEP) have provided new impetus to the school education system. The pace of growth of education system of the country and that of Bihar was renewed owing to new ideas, issues and challenges with the notification of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which makes elementary education a fundamental right of every child in the country.