Daily classes at Rastriya Basic School in Nagarain Municipality-7, Dhanusha, are often closed whenever there is a wedding in the village. This is because the villagers have been hosting wedding parties at the school building.

Premlal Paswan, the school headmaster, says there is not much the school can do about the matter since the entire village favours the idea of hosting local wedding parties by stopping the daily classes of their children. Even the local government unit seems to have no qualms about the children missing their classes.

In fact, it was the municipal ward chairman Ram Dular Mukhiya who had instructed the school to close their classes for six days for three separate weddings that were held at  the school recently.

“Classes did not take place on April 16, 17, 24, 25, 26 and 27 at the instruction of the ward chairman,” said Paswan, the school headmaster.

He also showed Mukhiya’s letters directing the school administration to close the classes on the said

wedding dates.

The revelation comes at a time when the elected representatives across the country are busy in school enrolment campaign to bring out-of-school children into school system.

Ward Chairman Mukhiya admitted to instructing the school for weddings.

“I wrote to the school because I was pressured by the villagers,” he said.

Biltu Mandal, a teacher at the school, said that the school would have closed with or without Mukhiya’s instruction.

“In the past, a group of locals was all it took to shut down the school for wedding ceremonies and parties. These days they come with the recommendation of the elected representatives,” he said.   

The Post also learned from him that it was not just Rastriya Basic School in Dhanusha that was closing its classes for wedding parties. Hasapatti Basic School in Nagarain Municipality-1 and Janata Secondary School in Laxminiya Rural Municipality-3 have also been closing their classes for weddings.

Ramakanta Sharma, chief of Province 2 Education Directorate, said his office was aware of the issue.

“We have directed the concerned schools to stop entertaining wedding guests by stopping the daily classes,but there seems to be no let up in the practice,” he said.

Back at Nagarain Municipality-7, headmaster Paswan says the school cannot do anything as long as the villagers,  leaders and elected representatives continue to think that it is okay to sacrifice their children’s education for parties and revelries.