Just before India got independence, the Gorkha Lower Primary and Middle English School at Nepali Mandir here was set up to cater to the needs of the Nepali community

GUWAHATI: Just before India got independence, the Gorkha Lower Primary and Middle English School at Nepali Mandir here was set up to cater to the needs of the Nepali community and to enrich the language. It was Dambar Singh Gurum, president of the All India Gorkha League, who took the initiative to set up the school in 1946.
But after 65 years of service and producing a host of bright students, the school is going through a severe crisis of identity, thanks to the state's apathy and attitude towards regional languages. The school is beset by an acute shortage of teaching staff and text books.
"Even a decade ago the scenario was quite different. Students would queue up to take admission here. But now that has changed and we are heading towards bad times," rued Dhananjay Sharma, principal of the Middle English School. He has been involved with the school since 1973.
At present, out of 70 students, 50 per cent belong to the Nepali community. At the lower primary level, out of 117 students, just 18 are Nepali speaking. "Parents these days prefer to send their children to English medium schools. They feel they will receive better education there. Moreover, we face numerous hurdles in carrying out our mission to educate students," he said.
"We are seriously in a crisis. We have only science and mathematics text books in Nepali. But for others, including modern Indian languages, we need to procure them from Darjeeling and Meghalaya. Or they need to be translated into Hindi," added Sharma.
Teachers, too, are facing a tough time taking classes in the lower section.
"As most of the students belong to the non-Nepali speaking community, we have to address them in Hindi after taking classes in Nepali," said a teacher from the lower primary section.
"These days most students belong to underprivileged families so we have to pay them more attention as they don't get time to study at home. After school, they accompany their parents to work," said Rani Moni Thapa, headmistress of Gorkha LP School, adding that with Class-V added to their section, they are burdened with extra students but there are few teachers to handle them.
The high school section, set up in 1988, has already changed its medium to Hindi. "When the lower level could not manage Nepali medium books, we cannot afford to run the school in the Nepali medium, so it's being shifted to Hindi," said Thaneswar Kalita, the principal of the high school, which was set up in 1988.
-TOI