2 Baisakh, Myagdi — Beni Municipality in Myagdi district has closed one school this year and reduced classes or realigned levels in 15 other schools. Due to a shortage of students, Chetana Basic School located in Beni Municipality–5 has been shut down. According to Arjun Sharma, Chief Administrative Officer of Beni Municipality, 32 teachers from the closed and downsized schools have been reassigned to schools with higher student populations.
Chetana Basic School, which offered education up to grades 1 to 3, was closed due to no new student enrollment, the municipality stated. Previously, Jagannath Basic School in Upper Gajne and Okhle Basic School in Ward No. 10 of Beni Municipality–5 were also closed last year.
The municipality reported that in Beni Municipality–1, Gyanpunj Basic School; Ward No. 2’s Hansabahini Basic School; Ward No. 3’s Navjyoti and Bhume Basic Schools maintain only kindergarten classes, although they originally offered grades 1 to 3. Similarly, Bhanubhakta Secondary School in Ratnechaur was reduced from grades 1–12 to 1–8; Jadabharat Sanskriti Secondary School in Galeshwor from 1–10 to 1–8; and Thakanpokhari and Radhakrishna Basic Schools from 1–8 to 1–5.
Basic schools such as Barah, Gyanpunj, Navdurga, Vidyamandir, Barnath, Syalikhet, and Chandroday offer classes only up to grade 3, down from 1–5 levels. Mayor Surat KC explained that as per the decision of the 17th Municipal Assembly, “Where students exist, teachers must be present.” Teachers from schools with fewer students have been reassigned to schools with more enrollment.
He added, “Following on-site inspections by a task force in last Bhadra and discussions with subject committees, communities, and ward representatives, a decision was taken in the executive meeting on Chaitra 27 to reduce school levels and classes and manage teacher assignments. We have communicated this for implementation from the new academic session. If student numbers increase in downsized schools, we have a policy to restore levels and classes accordingly.”
The Education Section’s Deputy Secretary Ksheer Bahadur Bhandari noted that schools have been notified to appoint head teachers according to the revised levels decided by the executive. In secondary schools and basic schools offering grades 1–8 and 1–5, senior teachers in their respective grades have been organized as head teachers.
A subcommittee has been formed to assess the physical assets of closed schools, with assets and documents planned to be stored in the nearest schools. The municipality is preparing for a second phase involving further adjustments of levels and reassigning teachers to schools based on subject requirements.
Currently, Beni Municipality has 55 community schools with facilities such as well-equipped buildings, internet, electricity, drinking water, toilets, and computers. However, rural community schools have seen a decline in student numbers annually due to population migration. Due to insufficient students for running classes, 11 schools were realigned in the 2079 academic year and 7 schools in 2080.
The rapid migration, attraction toward private schools, failure to gain parental trust, inability to provide English-medium instruction, and lack of subject-specialist teachers pose significant challenges for community schools.
