MYAGDI: District Education Office, Myagdi, today sought clarification from 41 schools for the declining number of students in the district.

Some primary schools have even less than 25 students. However, in district headquarters Beni and adjoining areas including Darbang, Babiyachor, Singa and Galeshwor, the number of students is much more than the capacity of both private and public schools.

Public schools in the area have to house around 150 students in each class due to lack of infrastructure. According to DEO records, there are 33,466 school students from grades I to XII. Of this total, 27,937 students are in public schools and 5,532 are in private schools.

“The number of students in the rural hilly areas is negligible,” said Mastakim Masturi DEO technical assistant. Masturi said, “We update data every day. Many people have started migrating to towns. “The number of students in rural public schools has declined due to migration and due to establishment of private schools. Besides, there is no possibility of merging public schools in the area.

“To be eligible to run classes up to Grade V, a school must have more than 25 students, whereas the number must be 20 to running classes from grades I to III, he said. “We have written to schools with less than the required number of students. However, we are yet to take a final decision,” he said.

According to him, Prakash Higher Secondary School, Beni Community Higher Secondary School, Mt Everest Boarding Higher Secondary School, New Best Point Boarding Higher Secondary School, Beni Boarding School, Lok Deep Boarding School, Jamunakharka Higher Secondary School, Jana Priya Higher Secondary School, Muktidham Secondary School, Dhaulagiri Secondary School, Mangala Higher Secondary School, and Galeshwor Higher Secondary School, among others, have a large number of students, whereas the number of students is decreasing every year in other schools.

Though there might be a large difference in the number of students between rural and urban schools, the government is responsible for the massive decline in the number of students, said Krishna Bahadur Thapa, Campus Chief of Myagdi Multiple Campus. Migration to urban areas is another reason. Hence, the state should work for the welfare of the people by providing drinking water facility, electricity, road, employment opportunities, and make available daily essentials, among other things, in every corner of the country, Thapa argued. He also said private schools have been established in many places with political backing.

Meanwhile, Diwakar Subedi, Principal of Jana Priya Higher Secondary School, said the number of students has been decreasing as government schools have failed to attract guardians. “We have not been able to lure parents and students to state-run schools,” he said. Random issuance of licences and unfavouable geographical locations are also reasons why students are leaving schools in remote hilly areas.

source: the himalayan times,24 feb 2014