Sankalp Sandhya: Bihar starts free evening classes for Classes 9-12 on November 17

Bihar's Education Department will start 'Sankalp Sandhya', a programme of free evening classes for government school students of Classes 9 to 12, in all 38 district headquarters from Tuesday, 17 November 2026, according to reports of the department's plan published on Wednesday, 11 November. The classes are meant for students who are weak in their studies or come from poor families. Additional Chief Secretary of the Education Department C.K. Anil said the programme would run until Wednesday, 31 March 2027, and reports credit the initiative to Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari.

Classes 9 to 12 are where the board examinations sit, and they are also the years in which many students in government schools fall behind or leave. Private evening coaching costs money that poorer families often do not have. Sankalp Sandhya tries to offer a free version of that extra help inside the government school system, at the time of day when private coaching usually runs.

The plan to bring in retired officers is unusual. Instead of hiring new staff, the department is inviting former IAS, state administrative and education service officers under 70 to teach as volunteers, alongside regular teachers. This keeps costs low, but teaching quality will depend on how many volunteers come forward in each district.

The programme is not Bihar's first attempt at extra help for weak students. In November 2023 the state announced Mission Daksh, a programme for nearly 25 lakh children lagging behind their classmates, in which teachers were to mentor students in small batches of not more than five, with district magistrates monitoring progress. Sankalp Sandhya is different in form: it is aimed at older students in Classes 9 to 12 and works through group evening classes in district towns rather than school-by-school mentoring.

Peepals calculation: With one to three host schools in each of the 38 district headquarters, Sankalp Sandhya will run in between 38 and 114 schools across the state (38 x 1 = 38; 38 x 3 = 114). Each evening session from 5 pm to 7:30 pm lasts two and a half hours, and the window from 17 November 2026 to 31 March 2027 spans 135 days counting both ends (14 days in November, 31 in December, 31 in January, 28 in February and 31 in March). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: District Education Officers must pick the host schools and send their lists within two days so that classes can begin on 17 November. Students in district towns who are behind in English, Mathematics or Science get a free place to study in the evenings in the months before the 2027 board examinations.

Long-term: If attendance holds and results improve, the department has a low-cost model of evening remedial teaching that could be extended beyond district headquarters to block towns. If volunteers are few or students do not come, the programme may stay small and end with the academic year.

Who is affected: Government school students of Classes 9 to 12 in Bihar's district towns and their families, teachers at the selected host schools, retired government officers willing to teach, and District Education Officers and District Magistrates who must run and oversee the classes.

What to watch next: The list of host schools from each district and the first classes on Tuesday, 17 November 2026; the programme is set to end on 31 March 2027.

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