The Education Ministry’s notification on the closure of the recently re-opened Tandigang extended classroom in Bumthang sparked a heated debate in the recent Dzongkhag Tshogdu.
The school reopened in April this year after the people requested the Prime Minister during his Chhoekhor-Tang bye-election visit last year. The ECR was closed about ten years ago due to low enrolment.
The notification states that the ECR’s five-year projection of the number of students does not meet the actual requirement of the ECR. Today, there are 12 students from classes PP to III who were moved from Tang Central School.
However, as per the education ministry’s policy, there should be minimum 20 students to open an ECR. People claimed that there are other ECRs in the district operating with fewer than 20 students.
“If the school fulfils the ECR establishment criteria from next year, we have decided to provide financial support. However, in the current financial year, as the school reopening is being piloted, we couldn’t allocate any budget as of now,” said Tandin Dorji, the Senior Bumthang Dzongrab.
“The officials from the district education sector never told the people that the reopening is on a pilot basis. It now appears as if education is being made fun of. It is not fair on the gewog administration after arranging everything for the school to reopen successfully,” said Ugyen Nima, the Tang Gup.
The ministry instructed the district education sector to transfer the students back to the school. And the dzongkhag finance committee cancelled the gewog’s proposal to build the ECR’s new structures.
Meanwhile, the Chief District Education Officer said besides the shortage of students, the school also doesn’t have a proper site for the construction of the new structures.
The school currently operates in a vacant monastery above the village. However, people are dissatisfied with the justifications. Although there’s an old classroom just below the village, officials said the area doesn’t have a proper learning environment as it is near farm road.
“If it was ineligible, the school shouldn’t have reopened in the first place and we would have kept our children as boarders at Tang Central School,” said Tashi Lhendup, the Tandigang Tshogpa.
“When our children study at Tang Central School, there is no one taking care of them. They lose their clothes. They don’t even know how to put on their dresses. When the school is in the village, we can take care of them ourselves,” said Sherab Lhamo, one of the parents.
“We have to drop and pick up the kids everyday when they study at Tang. The streams become swollen during summer posing risks to our children. There are chances of encountering bears also,” said Lham Choden, another parent.
The ECR came as a great relief as Tandigang has the maximum number of boarding students studying in Tang Central School compared to other villages. And the central school is 17 kilometres away from the village.
Meanwhile, Chhoekhor-Tang MP Dawa said the matter will be discussed with the Prime Minister on a later date.
For now, the fate of the school hangs in the balance as this tiny institution becomes a subject of bureaucratic and political disagreement.
Kipchu, Bumthang
