SARBHANG

7 January, 2009 - About nine schools in southern Bhutan, which closed down for more than a decade for security-related issues, will finally reopen this academic year.

The schools, in various gewogs of Samtse, Sarpang, Tsirang, Chukha and Samdrupjongkhar, are expected to benefit more than 500 children, ease admission pressure in community schools and help students, who had been travelling long distances to study, according to education officials.

Education officials said that over 30 schools in the southern dzongkhags remained closed since the early 1990s for security reasons. About four schools in Tsirang, Sarpang and Samtse dzongkhag reopened in summer 2008 after the government directed the education ministry in May 2008 to revive the schools at the earliest possible.

Chhukha’s Pa chhu community school in Pheuntsholing has already enrolled 64 pre-primary students for this year’s session. The classrooms were already in good shape and the school site needed little renovation, according to the dzongkhag education officer.

But coming back to life after years was not easy for the Chisopani community school in Biru gewog, Samtse, which was destroyed by fire in the 1990s. The Biru gup said that the school would be reopened in a new location in the gewog and would benefit children of more than ten villages. “It’s centrally located,” he said, adding that, without the school, about 500 children in nearby villages had to walk more than two hours to study in Peljorling school and schools of other gewogs.

A resident in Tshokhana gewog in Tsirang said that the community was willing to do everything possible to help the education officials reopen the school. “Villagers realise the importance of education but we were frustrated when our children could not get admission in schools far from the village because of admission pressure,” he said.

But the dzongkhag education officer said that the two schools to be reopened in Tsirang would be able to enroll only about 42 to 45 students in each school because of teacher shortage in the country.

On the other hand, Sarpang’s district education officer said that two community schools in Dovan and Jigmechholing gewogs would reopen this year with two sections of pre-primary classes each to accommodate more students. They have requested the ministry for two teachers each in the reopened schools to support the number of students enrolled.