Rural education crisis, Khati school runs with only 2 students

In the heart of Punjab’s Phagwara Sub-Division, the Government Middle School of Khati village stands as a stark symbol of a public education system in distress. Built to educate 150 students, the school today serves only two. Classrooms that were once envisioned as spaces of vibrant learning now echo with silence.

Computers, donated to bridge the digital divide, gather dust. The only sounds of learning come from Manpreet Suman and Lakhwinder Heer, the sole two students left in Class VIII, tapping away on keyboards under the quiet supervision of their lone teacher, Sneh Lata.

Once a cornerstone of rural education, the school has seen its student strength dwindle from 14 in 2023 to just two in 2025. “We try to make the most of what we have,” says Sneh Lata, managing the entire school while her colleagues-Science teacher Jaswinder Singh and Social Studies teacher Rajinder Singh-remain on deputation elsewhere.

Khati’s school is not an anomaly; it reflects a widespread crisis engulfing government primary and middle schools across Phagwara. It has been found that 47 out of 109 primary schools in the Sub-Division have less than 50 students. Even more shocking, four operate with single-digit enrollment. The human resource deficit is equally dire-114 out of 424 sanctioned posts for primary teachers remain vacant.

Despite the Punjab government’s efforts to revamp education-sending teachers abroad for training, improving infrastructure and promoting digitisation-public trust in government schools remains elusive. Parents continue to migrate toward private institutions, driven by concerns about quality education and administrative neglect. Khati’s school, equipped with five government-issued computers and three well-maintained classrooms, offers a poignant contrast: infrastructure without instruction, facilities without footfall.

Administrative challenges compound the problem. The Phagwara Sub-Division was bifurcated into Blocks 1 and 2 back in 2011, yet key positions such as Block Primary Officers and clerks remain unfilled. Block Primary Officer Sanjeev Handa is currently overseeing five different blocks due to manpower shortages-an unsustainable load by any standard. While policies focus on infrastructure and innovation, the ground reality calls for something more fundamental-teachers in classrooms and children at desks.

The story of Government Middle School, Khati, is not just about two students. It is about thousands of rural children who might never see the inside of a functioning classroom unless urgent, focused action is taken. Until then, Sneh Lata will continue educating two students in three empty classrooms, hoping the bell of change rings sooner rather than later.

Jalandhar