One-teacher-one-student Kapurthala school to be shut

The education department is going to close the government primary school of Bhalipur, where no new student has joined in four years and which is left with just one teacher and a pupil.

The education department is going to close the government primary school of Bhalipur, where no new student has joined in four years and which is left with just one teacher and a pupil.

The cost of keeping that one student in Bhalipur’s school was Rs 50,000, of which the teacher took Rs 40,000, the cleaner Rs 2,000, and a cook Rs 1,200 a month. (HT Photo)

1 teacher, 1 student: That’s a govt school in a Kapurthala village!

On Thursday, district education officer (primary) Gurcharan Singh Multani led a team of senior officials to the Kapurthala village school; and on Friday, the department transferred its only student to a place nearby. HT had highlighted how no child of the village wanted to study at Bhalipur’s school.

The panchayat has agreed to the closing decision. “Student Jagdeep Singh of Class 5 has been moved to the school at Bhandal Dona village, about 1.5 kilometres from his place,” said DEO Multani.

“The matter was under consideration even last year when we merged five schools that had less than 10 students each; but guidelines under the Right to Education (RTE) Act forbid merger until the new school is within a kilometre of the jurisdiction,” he added. The school was left with only one student this session.

The cost of keeping that one student in Bhalipur’s school was Rs 50,000, of which the teacher took Rs 40,000, the cleaner Rs 2,000, and a cook Rs 1,200 a month.