This year, Jana-Namuna Secondary School in Birendranagar invited applications for admission of 220 students at a rate of 55 per class in grades 6, 7, 8, and 9. However, nearly 2,500 students applied.

‘It is difficult to cope with the pressure of incoming calls during the new admission period,’ says Govinda Koirala, chairman of the school management committee. ‘During the admission period, the management committee officials and teachers switch off their phones for about two weeks.’ 

Jan-Namuna Mavi is preparing to prepare infrastructure to accommodate 5,000 students within two years to cope with the pressure of student admission. ‘It is a matter of pride to say that our children study at Jan Mavi rather than at a boarding school,’ said local parent Ved Prasad Devkota. ‘The school’s educational environment, infrastructure, results and teaching style have made it the most attractive school in Karnali.’ His two sons Kamal and Suyog are studying at the school.

The school, which was established in Gothikanda, the old headquarters of Surkhet, in 2008, was shifted to Birendranagar-6 in 2022. Currently, the school has 3,175 students, including 1,600 students up to grade 10 and 1,575 students in grades 11 and 12.

While other schools in Birendranagar study until 4 pm, Janamav School studies until 6 pm. ‘We have been conducting additional remedial (extra) classes in the evening,’ said Principal Yam Bahadur Shrestha, ‘Students do not have to pay additional fees for studying like that, but we are providing additional facilities to teachers.’ 

Remedial exams are conducted every Saturday. ‘Rather than giving marks to students, we get information about which subjects and lessons need to be improved,’ he said, ‘We return the answer sheets of the said exams to the students along with the page notes.’ He said that efforts have been made to keep students free from the fear of other exams. 

The school has been made technology-friendly. From child development to class 5, classes are taught through smart boards, while classes above that are conducted through multimedia. Each teacher has been provided with a laptop. Each classroom has a student code of conduct, dustbin, wall clock, academic calendar and a jar with a dispenser for drinking water. There is a facility of free sanitary pads for girl students. 

 The school has one section each from Child Development to Grade 5 and 4 in Grade 6, 5/5 in Grades 7-8 and 6/6 in Grades 9 and 10. Principal Shrestha said that more sections had to be created as the number of students increased above Grade 6. According to him, education is provided in both Nepali and English medium. 

Although the passing percentage has been gradually increasing since 2074, Principal Shrestha complains that there is no coordination based on the examination system and the number of students. According to him, 72 percent of the students who participated in the SEE examination from the school passed in 2079, 76 in 2080 and 77 percent last year. Last year, the school had brought the best passing result of 80.73 percent in the municipal level examination of Grade 8.

The school, which started selecting students through entrance exams in 2073 BS, excelled in the same year's SEE among community and institutional schools in the Midwest. In 2074 BS, two students of the school, Pradeep Rana Chhetri and Ganesh Bhandari, scored 4 GPA.

The school also came first in the province in last year's Class 12 examination. 'The relationship between teachers, parents and students is also helping to improve academic results,' said Koirala, chairman of the management committee, 'We are also making teaching and learning activities student-friendly, the impact of which is seen in the results.' 

The school's land, spread over an area of ​​three bighas and seven kattas, has 12 blocks. There is a separate assembly hall. The library, lab and music classes are operating in separate buildings. The school, which has a spacious playground, flower garden and garden, has 5 science laboratories and 3 computer labs.

Principal Shrestha informed that mathematics, social studies and music labs have also been opened in the school. There are 54 classrooms in all the buildings of the school. He says that these rooms are not enough for the number of students. 

The school has now brought a bus into operation and CCTV cameras have been installed in about 5 dozen places for security. Shrestha, who has been the principal of the school since 2069 BS, was also honored with the Best Principal Award last year.

 The school has 32 permanent, 6 temporary and 58 part-time and contract teachers, while the number of employees is 23. Principal Shrestha said that teachers and employees from private sources are also paid salaries similar to the government scale from the income received from the rental of about 70 shutters built on the school land. ‘About 4.5 million rupees are raised annually from the rent, with that we have been able to pay the salaries of teachers and employees,’ he said, ‘Since there are no posts according to the number of students, it is becoming difficult to operate educational activities.’