With 3 teachers for 3 students, this K'pada school is staring at closure
2
Kendrapada: In most schools, the teacher-student ratio is often a cause of concern. But the 91-year-old govt primary school at Badahat village in the district has three teachers teaching just three students.
While two students study in Class III, the third is in Class II.
But this was not always the case. Earlier, it had a healthy number of students, but enrolment declined steadily over the years as many parents began sending their children to English-medium schools that have come up in the district.
Sayed Mohammad Khalid, one of the teachers, said, "Last month, I joined the school and it felt very strange because there are only three students.
The rest of the children from the village and nearby areas study in private schools. We have highly qualified teachers. Efforts are being made to encourage parents to enrol their children in the school. We are expecting positive outcomes."
Besides Khalid, Priyambada Sundarray and Susanta Kumar Sahoo are the other two teachers. "We have been visiting homes in the village to convince parents to send their children to the govt school.
All the facilities are available in this govt primary school. But villagers consider it better to send their children to private English-medium schools," rued Sahoo.
A few years back, around 30-40 children used to study in the school, but now only three children come to school.
District education officer (DEO) Pabitra Mohan Barik said following govt guidelines, the school will be closed. "It will be merged with another school soon for better use of resources, efficiency, and education upgrade," Barik said. Asked about the criteria to determine merger of schools, Barik said the strength has to be less than 20 students.
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