PATNA: You would not expect to find a school with a 1:1 student-teacher ratio anywhere in the country let alone in Bihar -- one of the most backward states in terms of development. But a government-run primary school here has one teacher teaching one student -- with one cook for good measure!
The school is located in Mansabigha village under Khigangarsarai block in Bihar’s Gaya district, about 170 km from the state capital.
The lucky pupil is Jhanvi Kumari, 7, who belongs to an extremely poor Paswan family. She gets ample attention in school and never misses a single class even in the worst weather conditions.
The government education department spends Rs 59,000 per month to impart primary education just for her.
The school has a pukka building and good facilities within the campus but what it lacks is pupils.
“There are four classrooms in the one-storey building and a cook, Gayatri Devi, who gets Rs 1500 per month for cooking the midday meal for this single pupil and teacher,” said a local.
Ironically, the high student-teacher ratio here is not a compliment for Bihar education system but instead suggests that the locals have lost faith in government schools. People even from rural areas prefer to send their wards to private schools for quality education rather than sending them to government schools.
There are around 15 Paswan families and more than 40 upper caste families in Mansabigha. A number of private schools have come up in the locality to which more than 98% of the kids are sent by their parents for quality education.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Priyanka Kumari, who teaches Jhanvi, said: “Till a few days ago, a male teacher was also here but he was suspended for obtaining the appointment fraudulently. Now, I am the sole teacher for a sole student.”
She said nine students were enrolled in the school but only one attends classes. The other eight spend their time in private schools and come here only to take their examinations.
Priyanka admitted that the trust of locals in the government-run school has vanished. “On a holiday like Sunday or after school time, I used to go and ask people of the locality to send their wards to the school but none of them agrees,” she rued.
The district education officer of Gaya Mustafa Hussein said he will personally go to meet locals and encourage them to send their wards to the school.