Three community schools merged in Lalbandi Municipality of Sarlahi

BY JANARJAN KHATRI,Sarlahi, June 8: Three community schools within Lalbandi Municipality, Sarlahi, have been merged due to declining student enrollment.

According to Lalbandi Municipality's Education Officer Laxmi Shivakoti, the Municipal Education Committee decided to merge Janata Primary School (Jharjhara) of Ward No. 15 with Jalkanya Primary School (Bhumra) in the same ward, Indrawati Primary School (Kataharbot) with Satbhaiya Basic School, and Suryodaya Primary School (Tikuliya) of Ward No. 17 with Fouadsingh Janata Secondary School (Raniganj) in the same ward.

Sivakoti informed that Janata Primary School had zero students, while Indrawati and Suryodaya had only eight and 27 students, respectively. As per government guidelines, schools with fewer than 60 students in grades 1–3 or fewer than 100 in grades 1–5 can be merged into nearby institutions. Following this, students from Kataharbot were shifted to Satbhaiya Basic School, and those from Tikuliya were transferred to Fouadsingh Janata Secondary School in Raniganj.

The merged schools had several staff members, including permanent and relief teachers, early childhood educators, and administrative assistants. These staff will be relocated to nearby schools. The merged schools were located within 500 meters of the new ones.

Ward Chair of Lalbandi-15, Gorkha Bahadur Bal, said the merger was necessary due to a sharp decline in birth rates and an increasing preference for private schools among families with better financial status. “These schools once had 60–70 students, but now there are very few children in the village, and most are enrolled in private schools,” he said.

A committee led by Ward No. 8 Chairman and Education Committee Coordinator Shukra Bahadur Pakhrin was formed to inspect the schools and recommend further mergers. The committee also suggested merging Shiswa Primary School in Ward No. 3 and Raniganj Primary School in Ward No. 17. However, since these schools recently met the minimum student requirements in classes 1–3, only their grade 4 and 5 students will be relocated to nearby schools.

Despite a grace period granted in the previous academic year, student numbers in Jharjhara, Kataharbot, and Tikuliya did not increase, prompting the final merge. The land and infrastructure of the closed schools will now fall under the municipality’s jurisdiction and be maintained by local ward offices.

With the merger, the number of community schools in Lalbandi Municipality has reduced to 45.