People of Goshi geog under Dagana are crying foul, as the plan to reopen the Goshi Junior High School by the beginning of the 2010 academic session seems to be slipping out of their hands.

Reopening of the school   which had put been under Royal Bhutan Army almost two decades ago, after the southern Bhutan agitation in 1990   was a major desire of the Goshi geog residents, who were almost certain of getting this as a New Year’s gift, but that did not happen.

In the absence of this school, Goshi residents have only two options. They can either send their children to the Balaygang Primary School – a five kilometre walk   or to Dogag Primary School, which is even farther: eight kilometres from the village

More than 30 students from this village have been walking almost five hours every day to go to school.  The trudge starts at dawn and ends at dusk.

And this has been happening for the past 20 years.

“Parents and children have to wake up at two in the morning so that the students can do their homework,” said Robin Chettri.

He said that parents have to reach their children till the Bidlung Bridge, almost two kilometres from the village down the mule track, as the river poses a serious threat to their wards in the summer months.

Chettri complains that their children have to walk half the day, braving heat and rain, to go and come back from their school.

“Some of the parents have even built temporary huts near the school and stay there, as our children are too young to handle household chores as well as their studies,” said Chettri.

There is, of course, the Dagapela Middle Secondary School, just three kilometres away from their village. But villagers gripe that their children don’t get admission, allegedly because it is ‘already overcrowded’.

Interestingly, all the children of army personnel, civil servants and businessmen in the locality get admission in the school easily, but students from the village are kept out, according to one of the villagers.

The villagers say that there are eight blocks vacant in the Royal Bhutan Army colony, which once housed the Goshi Junior High School, and they were promised that the school would be relocated in the vacant blocks, but there is sign of that so far.

Talking to BHUTAN TODAY, Goshi gup Phub Tshering said that they would definitely like to have the Royal Bhutan Army in their community, but at the same time it would be beneficial for their children to have a school in the neighbourhood.

“Opening a school in these vacant blocks of the army camp would help around 95 households, scattered over upper and lower Goshi geog,” he said.

People here say that there are very few army personnel and they are all comfortably ensconced in the office block, while the dining hall and classrooms remain vacant.

The gup also said that reinstating Goshi Junior High School has been earmarked in the second year of the 10th Five Year Plan, and as soon as the Royal Bhutan Army releases the premises the budget will be sanctioned.

Sources say that the Ministry of Education had already sanctioned Nu 14 million for the reestablishment of the school; yet, Goshi may have to wait for the next academic session to see its children receive education in their own geog.

Prem Kumar, mangmi of Goshi geog, said that reopening of the school was even reflected in the Geog Yargay Tshogchung (GYT) and a proposal has been sent to get that done by this academic session.

“Because of some problems – of which we are unaware   it seems unlikely that the school will start this year, and we are not sure when it will at all reopen,” said the mangmi.

The Member of Parliament from this constituency, Sonam Jamtsho admitted that the residents had indeed sent such a proposal.

“This will be of great help to the people of Goshi geog, as their children need not suffer so much for their studies,” said Sonam Jamtsho, refusing to comment any further.

Meanwhile, BHUTAN TODAY learnt that reopening of the school has not been finalised but officials from the education ministry and the Royal Bhutan Army are discussing this. The school might be reopened as soon as the talks are resolved.

Prior to the southern agitation problem in the early 90s the school was under the Ministry of Education, but since then it had been handed over to the RBA, and even now some of the buildings belong to the army.

By Sonam Tashi in PHUENTSHOLING