DHANUSHA, Dec 20: It might be hard for some to believe that a single teacher has been managing to teach students of five different classes in a single classroom. Saraswati Primary School (SPS) of Sabaila Municipality-10 in Dhanusha district runs classes from grades one to five. There are altogether 92 students in the whole school and a single teacher teaches all of them.
There are 19 students in grade 1, 21 in grade 2, 18 in grade 3, 18 in grade 4, and 15 students in grade 5. However, not all students come to school regularly. Locals accuse the principal and school management committee for this sorry state of the school.
Principal Sanjiv Kumar Yadav laments that they could not improve the standard of education standard of the school despite making several efforts since there aren't enough teachers. Ward Chief Parmeshwar Shah stated that he has been repeatedly hearing complaints from the locals regarding low number of teachers. But he himself is not aware how he can solve this problem.
Why teachers are important
Local Bindeshwar Yadav says if the school authority can arrange enough teachers, there is no shortage of students. "We have a school in our own community but still the parents are obliged to send their children to private schools by paying expensive fees," said Yadav, adding, "Only those parents who are unaware about the importance of education and just want their children to attend school for formality are sending their children to SPS."
Similarly, National Primary School of the same ward has more teachers though not enough. Despite having proper infrastructure and teachers, the school has not been able to maintain its standard. According to principal Raj Kishwar Pariyar, the sewer and garbage dumped by the community in front of the school has tarnished its reputation.
Locals have been using the school to allow them to raise their goats, ducks, and buffaloes on the school premises despite objection from the teachers. This has disturbed the environment of the school.
Likewise, there are several other schools in the municipality which are facing similar problems. Ramdular Yadav, chief of Education Department in the municipality, says shortage of teachers is the problem faced by all community schools at the moment.
"School authorities seek help from us but we are obliged to seek help from the District Education Office," said department chief Yadav, adding, "It is not in our hands."
He stressed that the local representatives, community, principals and teachers must solve this problem through discussion. A month ago, a committee was formed to solve the problems of community schools. Kapil Raut Gaderi, coordinator of the committee, informed Republica that policies and plans are being formulated for the improvement and development of community schools.
