POKHARA: In an indication that government-run community schools are struggling to attract students, as many as 143 schools in the Western Development Region have been merged in the current Fiscal Year 2013/14.

Most of the schools merged are primary-level schools situated at remote areas of the region. They were merged owing to lack of students.

The Ministry of Education has been merging schools with fewer students, under the School Sector Reform Programme (SSRP) for last seven years.

Educational authorities have claimed that the mergers have become effective in balancing the student-teacher ratio and thereby improving quality of teaching-learning activities.

Motilal Sharma Pokhrel, Deputy Director of the Regional Education Directorate, Pokhara, said a total of 143 schools were merged in the last 11 months in 15 districts of the region. Not a single school has been merged in the Rupandehi district.

Meanwhile, a total of 55 new schools have been registered for operation in the region in the current fiscal year. Of them, 46 are private schools.

Pokhrel said increasing number of private schools is offering new challenges for government (community) schools in city areas.

"The challenge is also increasing as the government authority's monitoring system is more process-oriented than result-oriented," he said. Authorities should identify schools with good practices and arrange their exposure with other schools, he suggested.

District Education Officer of Kaski, Dilliram Luintel said the merger can be implemented not only with primary, but also with secondary schools, if they lack enough students to run classes.

source: the himalayan times,25 may 2014