Education, as a matter of right, appears a distant dream for the nearly hundred youngsters in Dhapani village in the remote Santhal Pargana division in North-East Jharkhand. Until 2018, the Paharia children studied in Dapani village, home to about 80 households. Once influential, the Paharia tribe is now dwindling in numbers and losing socio-political clout compared to larger tribes like the Santhals. In 2018, the local school was relocated to another village three kilometres away. Despite a 2022 petition prompting the district administration to promise reopening the Dhapani school, it remains shut. With no proper road between the villages, Paharia students continue to struggle without basic education.