Many people think of community schools as limited resources, challenging environments, and mediocre results. But Dharan Public High School has challenged all these prejudices and established itself as the number one community school.

Here, education is not just about acquiring knowledge, but also about preparing for life, teaching culture and skills. The school is seen to be moving towards success day by day with issues such as being selected as a model school, being included in the list of big schools, being a school that promotes science subjects and running an electrical engineering program towards the technical stream.

But this success did not come suddenly. Its roots are very deep. This school, located on Chatara Line, Dharan Sub-metropolitan City-12, was established on 23 Shrawan 2003. Amidst the harsh social structure of the Rana regime, the first principal, Dirgharaj Koirala, started his journey with a small building, a few teachers and a limited group of students. At that time, education was the right of only a special class, but the public high school promoted the belief that education should be for everyone and has reached this point today.

This school, located on two bighas of land, is operating from nursery to grade 12. Education from nursery to grade 10 is being conducted in English medium. More than 4,300 students are studying in this school. Not only the number of students, but their social background is the real strength of the school. Workers, farmers, small businessmen, government employees, children from low-income families to the middle class sit in the same class and weave the same dream. This diversity has made the school a small society in Dharan.

The school has succeeded in restoring its reputation as the only community school to offer science, management, humanities, education, along with skilled technical programs in hotel management, computer science, beautician and hair dressing, as well as optional science subjects in grade 9.

Lekhnath Bhattarai, who became the principal of the school in 2065 BS, led the school for 6 years. ‘There was a comprehensive discussion between the teachers and the management committee on how to improve the quality of the school in line with the changing environment and times,’ he said. After the discussion, Dr. Indra Mohan Jha was appointed the school principal in 2071 BS.

He stepped down from the position of principal for the good of the school and is now the vice-principal of the school. ‘The experience of running a boarding school was to help the school provide the same quality as a boarding school,’ said Bhattarai, ‘He has a big hand in the school reaching this point today.’ 

Currently, the school has 190 teachers and staff, of which 125 are full-time and the rest are part-time. But only 40 are in government positions. The remaining teachers rely on the school management committee, parental support and internal resources, Bhattarai said.

Maintaining educational quality even in such a structure is a challenging task. But the public high school has turned the challenge into an opportunity and performed exemplary. In the SEE results published in 2082, the school achieved a 91.91 percent pass rate, securing first place in Sunsari. 

Along with the general stream, the school also runs electrical engineering in the technical stream. The excellent results in technical education seem to have made the school abreast of the times. The 74.56 percent regular pass rate in class 12 indicates that the school is no longer limited to the secondary level but will become a strong foundation for higher education.

Dharan Public High School has not only achieved academic achievements but also contributed to social transformation. The students here have spread across the country and abroad, but the common identity is the same - the culture, skills and social responsibility taught by public high schools. Famous singers like Deep Shrestha, Deepak Limbu, retired secretary of the Government of Nepal Chandra Kumar Ghimire, athlete Rajukaji Shakya, Dr. Successful alumni like Bhola Rijal have come out of this school.

The school's education philosophy is not only exam-oriented, here an effort is made to prepare the students not only for the competition of marks, but also for life. For the preparation of the final examination, booster classes are being conducted for students of classes 8 and 10, Nepali and English improvement classes for students of classes 6 to 10, and boost-up exams for students of science and electrical classes 11 and 12. 

The school has paid special attention to the reading culture. A compulsory library class is conducted for one hour a week. Public high school has also become exemplary in practical education. Plus Two students are given practical education under hotel management - hospitality management in restaurants, beautician courses, practicals in computer and electrical labs, on-the-job training and field visits have been arranged for electrical stream students at Nepal Electricity Authority. This has given students the opportunity to answer the question of what to do after studies right in school.

Special in-charges have been arranged at each level in the school. Subject-specific in-charges for classes 4, 5, 6 and 10, academic in-charge for primary level, science and electrical department in-charge, discipline in-charge, school bus in-charge and security guard in-charge have been designated, said Mohan Shrestha, in-charge of science and electrical department.

In addition to this, the school has launched programs such as motivational classes, meditation classes, dance classes, sports and robotics training, elocution, public speaking, and beautiful handwriting training. Various trainings are also conducted in collaboration with Nepal Scouts. A visiting professor has also been arranged for science and electrical students. Bhattarai said that the school has also prioritized safety, health and mental aspects. Special awareness seminars are conducted on topics such as drug abuse, mental problems, stress management, memory management. He said that this will strengthen the approach of preparing students for life, not just studies.