Saraswati Primary School was established in Kapurkot Rural Municipality-4 in 2068 for the convenience of local children. The school, which was established to operate grades 1-5, had more than a hundred students for a few consecutive years. The school, which had been gradually decreasing in number of students, could not get students at the primary level last year. After not getting students, the school was limited to child development last year.

This year, the school has become completely studentless. After being studentless, the municipality is preparing to merge (merge with another). Similarly, Dwarika Primary School was established in Badakhola in 2048 BS in Sharda Municipality-3 and BP Smriti Primary School in Siruwar after 2050 BS. Initially, the school operating from grades 1-5 initially had more than a hundred students. Parents, dissatisfied with the teachers' neglect of teaching, started taking their children to institutional schools. In 2072 BS, both these schools became studentless. Due to lack of students, both schools were merged into Khadgadevi Primary School, Pauwabari. The vacant school building is now dilapidated and the furniture is just as wasted. The classrooms of the school building have now been turned into a place where locals keep grass and animals come to rest during the rainy season. Although the local, provincial and federal governments have been making arrangements every year to increase the number of students in community schools, such as admission campaigns, mid-day meals, scholarships, and English-medium education, the number of students in other community schools has also been decreasing.

According to the data of the Education Development and Coordination Unit, Salyan, there are 426 community schools in the district. Of which there were 59,997 in 2079 BS, there are only 40,000 in 2083 BS. In the past four years, 19,997 students have been enrolled. In 2079, there were 59,997 students, while in 2080 there were 53,493, in 2081 49,21, in 2082 45,935 and in 2083 only 40,000 were enrolled.

Due to the decreasing number of students, 32 schools have been merged during this period and the classes (levels) of 83 schools have been reduced. From the fiscal year 2072 to 2074, 5 schools were merged, and 176 basic schools are limited to less than 40 students. The technical subject classes conducted in two schools in the district have also been closed due to lack of students.

Now, it is a big challenge for schools and local levels to retain students in community schools. The number of children being sent to institutional schools due to lack of quality education has increased and migration is increasing, so the number of students in schools in Salyan is decreasing every year. The number of institutional (private) schools in the district has reached 49. Due to the lack of student numbers, schools have been merged with the nearest one and some have been downgraded. Among the downgrades, schools operating at the secondary level have been limited to basic and those teaching up to grade 8 have been limited to grade 5. In Sharda Municipality, which has 54 community schools, 4 schools have been merged in the last 4 years and 10 have been downgraded. In Bagchaur Municipality, which has 68 schools, 2 have been merged and 12 have been downgraded. In Bangad Kupinde Municipality, 12 out of 56 schools have been merged.

Similarly, in Kapurkot, which has 24 schools, 2 have been merged and 2 have been downgraded, and in Darma, which has 31 schools, 1 has been downgraded, and in Kumakh, which has 46 schools, 2 have been merged and 18 have been downgraded. In Tribeni, which has 28 schools, 1 merged, 11 were downgraded, and in Kalimati, which has 51 schools, 2 schools were transferred and 18 were downgraded. In Chhatreshwori, which has 40 schools, 2 merged, 5 downgraded, and in Siddhakumakh, which has 28 schools, 5 were merged. Most of the schools to be merged and downgraded are basic schools.

This year too, the municipalities are preparing to merge more schools and downgrade as the number of students is decreasing. The municipality has not been able to merge some schools with low student numbers as it is difficult for young children to travel to school due to geographical remoteness. The municipality is arranging for teachers of the merged and downgraded schools elsewhere.

Deepa Gharti, a child development facilitator at Saraswati Basic School, Chunbang, Kapurkot, said that the school she works at has become devoid of students due to the increased migration of locals. ‘Last year, there were no students from grades 1 to 5. This year, no one was admitted to child development,’ she said. After the lack of students, the municipality has already arranged for two teachers working in the school to be transferred elsewhere. ‘The office assistant and I have not been sent anywhere. The two of us go to school every day and return by 1 pm,’ she said. She said that the materials in the school are being wasted. Hemant Budhathoki of Bangad Kupinde Municipality-9 in the district said that he was forced to send his children to private schools despite spending a lot of money because the education in the schools near his house was not good. ‘All parents want their children to excel. They did not get good education in government schools. I could not see my children being spoiled because of the facilities provided by the government. That's why they spent a lot of money and started sending their children to private schools in the city,' he said. 'If there was good education in the village community school, there was no desire to keep young children away from them.'

Bir Bahadur Sejuwal, who has been working in the teaching profession for a long time, says that even though the number of students in the village community schools is decreasing due to migration and low birth rates, the number of students can be increased if the quality of education is improved. He argues that the number of students and interest in community schools will not increase unless the relevant bodies pay attention to education that competes with institutional schools.

The number of students in community schools has been decreasing in recent times due to the failure of all parties to shoulder their moral responsibilities and not actively working on how to stop those going outside and to institutional schools.