Dechen Dolkar 

Phuentsholing thromde plans to construct two additional primary schools in the 13th Plan. 

Phuentsholing thromde has four public schools – two high schools and two primary schools, and two private schools – a primary and high school.

Phuentsholing Primary School has 1,581 students, Sonamgang Primary School has 883 students, Phuentsholing Rigsar Higher Secondary School has 690 students and Phuentsholing Higher Secondary School has 765 students.  

Yonten Kuenjung Academy has 258 students from classes PP to III, X, Xl, and Xll and Norbu Academy has 58 students.

Phuentsholing Thrompon Uttar Kumar Rai said that thromde has proposed to construct one school in Pekarzhing which is more than 13 kilometers away from the core town area and another at Pasakha. He said that the areas for the construction of schools have been identified.

Uttar Kumar Rai said that there are students who travel from these areas to schools and during monsoon, it is risky for them. “When there are roadblocks students residing in Pekarzhing and Pasakha miss classes.” 

Thrompon also said that classrooms are crowded. 

Thrompon said that at least one primary school is required in Pekarzhing. “Later it could be upgraded to high school.” 

The officiating thromde chief education officer, Chhimi Rinzin, said that in each class there are a maximum of 37 to 38 students. It should be 30 to 35 students in a class as per the teacher-student ratio.

He said that after the second term of the year, there are a few more students joining the school as transfer cases. There are more than 3,900 students in four public schools in Phuentsholing thromde.

Thrompon said that though there are two private schools in the thromde, many parents opt to send their children to public schools.

Thrompon also said that many people prefer to reside in Phuentsholing just because of the low cost of living and most of them are middle-income and low-income groups. 

Meanwhile, Sonamgang MSS and Phuentsholing LSS were downgraded to primary schools this academic year. 

It was part of the education reform on categorizing primary school from class PP to Vl and secondary from class Vll to Xll.

The education ministry stated last year that categorising schools into two levels aims to provide an appropriate allocation of facilities, better care, psychosocial well-being, and optimal utilization of teaching and learning materials with proper deployment of human resources across all levels.