KENDRAPARA: A 91-year-old government primary school in Kendrapara district is reportedly running with only three students and as many teachers.
Established in 1934 at Badahat village in Kendrapara town, the school currently has two students in Class III and one in Class II.
Three teachers - Priyambada Sundaray, Susanta Kumar Sahoo and Sayed Mohammad Khalid - attend the school daily to ensure uninterrupted education for these children.
Local resident Dhirendra Kumar Das said earlier, the school had a healthy number of students. Over the years, the enrolment of students declined due to establishment of English medium schools at various places in the town. Parents and guardians are now preferring to send their children to these schools.
Khalid said, “Last month, I joined the school and felt very strange because there are only three students. The rest children of the village and nearby areas study in private schools. In fact, we have highly-qualified teachers. Efforts are being made to encourage parents to enrol their children in our school.”
Sahoo said he along with other two teachers is visiting houses in the village to convince parents to send their kids to the government school. All facilities are available here but villagers prefer private English-medium schools.
Sundaray said a few years back, the school had around 30 to 40 students. But now, only three children are studying here. As a result, the administration is planning to close the school.
District education officer Pabitra Mohan Barik said the school will soon be closed and merged with another institution. “Following government guidelines, schools with less than 20 students will be merged for better use of resources, efficiency and improve the quality of education,” he added.
Anada Prasad Das (63), a lawyer of Kendrapara, said he, his father and three siblings studied in the Badahat government primary school. “I have a strong bond with this school. It pains me to know that this school will be closed due to dearth of students,” he said.
