The midday meal tragedy has exposed the chronic neglect of government school education in Bihar.
The ill-fated Gandaman village school was a newly-created school serving a vulnerable community of poor Dalits and other backward castes. But like most rural schools in the state, it lacked basic minimum facilities.
For one, it had no building. Students from class 1 to 5, who studied here, were cramped in a one-room community hall and made to sit on a floor full of large holes.
It did not have a kitchen or store for the midday meal programme. Only two teachers were appointed for the 60 students. At the time of the incident, one was on maternity leave. A single teacher, Meena Kumari, who was the teacher in charge, had to teach class 1 to 5, purchase and store rations and supervise the midday meal.
Rupesh, Adviser to the SC Commissioners, Right to Food Case, said, "The midday meal scheme has not been separated from the education system. In Tamil Nadu, they have a manager posted in charge of this scheme. But here it is the teacher who is responsible."
What's significant is that both teachers at this school were 'Niyojit Shikshaks', comparable to para-teachers. Most of these teachers are untrained and in some cases, unqualified.
The state government has filled the shortage of teachers in government schools by recruiting 2 lakh Niyojit Shikshaks.
They are paid a little over Rs 6,000 a month and do not have the rank or salary of regular teachers. A regular teacher is paid over Rs 30,000.
Earlier this year, these teachers had launched an agitation demanding equal pay for equal work, but without success.
Vinay Kanth, educationist, said, "Right now in Bihar, the regular teaching cadre is gradually getting eliminated. In their place, Niyojit Sikshaks are being appointed. They get meagre salary. In the same school, somebody is getting four to five times higher salary than them. Naturally, there is lot of heart burning on that account and lately they are agitating on all those issues.
"So obviously, such a situation is not conducive to a proper environment for learning. So teachers will have to be given more respect, better working conditions, decent working conditions and then they should also get the opportunity to get proper training."
Schemes like free uniforms, books and bicycles may be attracting more children to schools, but nothing has changed inside the classrooms.
Numerous reports, including by the NGO Pratham, have shown how children in Bihar's government schools fare poorly in terms of learning skills.
The poor quality education that children receive in Bihar is an everyday tragedy.