Jajarkot, February 17

One of the oldest schools in Jajarkot district is on the verge of shutting down due to lack of students. Established in 1971, Bheri Primary School is rich in terms of infrastructure, but is experiencing a massive drop in enrolment rate recently.

“The number of students is declining every year as the school has failed to provide quality education,” complained the locals.

The school has five buildings with two-rooms each and runs classes up to Grade V. Last year, as many as 86 students were enrolled in the school while the number has declined to 55 this year. Of them, there are 19 kids in Grade I, eight each in Grade II, III and IV, and 12 in Grade V.

The school has three teachers from private resource and one permanent teacher. “Though the school has enough teachers and good infrastructures, the number of students is declining every year due to lack of quality education,” regretted local Rajendra Shakya, adding the teachers were not serious about improving the quality of education.

The teachers arrive in the school at around 11:00 am or 12:00 pm and leave at around 2:00 pm.

Meanwhile, head teacher of the school Lalit Raj Bhandari attributed the declining number of students to rough terrain. “We have been doing our best to provide quality education,” he claimed.

Acting District Education Officer Yagyashwor Khatri said number of students were declining in government schools due to the growing number of private and boarding schools in the district. “We have received complaints about negligence of some teachers. We will take action against them to ensure that the quality of education is not compromised,” he said.