Poor infra, this Haryana village school has only 1 pupil

Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service
Palwal, February 14

The government primary school at Joharkhera village in Palwal is faced with a drought of students. It has had just one student on its rolls for the past one year. The school has two teachers and two other staff members. It is among the dozen-odd schools in the district which have less than 25 students. However, no official directive on closing down such schools has been issued so far though information about them was collected last month and a report submitted to the head office.

“The local government primary school, which is more than three decades old, wears a deserted look without students,’’ said Mohan Singh, a local resident. Though the village with a population of over 700 has no other educational institution, parents are sending their wards to private schools nearby as the condition of the government school is pathetic, he added.

The attendance of the lone student in the school too has been irregular. “Sometimes the teacher has to go to his house to bring him to school,” said Rakesh, another resident. Blaming the lack of basic infrastructure and shortage of staff among other things, he said villagers preferred private schools at Palwal district headquarters, 12 km away.

Admitting that Johrkhera school was among four schools with less than 10 students, Anil Sharma, District Elementary Education Officer, claimed that no order for closure had been issued so far by the department and admissions would be open for new students.

Meanwhile, Sukhbir Singh, Block Education Officer, said efforts

were on to increase the student strength.