Bengaluru Civic School Has Just 13 Students Across Three Grades and Five Teachers

KM Naganna High School, a civic-run high school in Bengaluru, is currently operating with only 13 students enrolled across classes 8 to 10, despite having five teachers assigned to the institution and sufficient infrastructure.

The student distribution across the high school grades is severely skewed. Class 8 currently has just a single enrolled student, while class 9 has five students and class 10 has seven students preparing for the SSLC examinations. To prevent the lone eighth-grade student from experiencing complete social isolation, teachers have taken to combining classes 8 and 9 for certain lessons, while class 10 students continue to attend their classes separately.

The principal of the high school and PU College cited structural and administrative hurdles behind the critically low enrolment numbers. The principal explained that the high school operates at a disadvantage because there is no primary school located within the same building to serve as a feeder. Additionally, most teachers were assigned to duties involving the special intensive revision of electoral rolls during the beginning of the academic year, hindering student intake.

The school administration stated that it cannot realistically expect new students to enrol for the eighth or ninth grades midway through the year. However, authorities stated that they will work hard to achieve a maximum strength of around 100 students for the upcoming academic year.

The situation has drawn criticism from child rights activists who question whether the institution remains properly connected to the local community. Child rights activist Nagasimha G Rao noted that while schools must continue to uphold the right to education even for one pupil, schooling requires peer interaction, teamwork, games, discussions, and cultural activities that cannot be fulfilled in near-empty classrooms.

Rao highlighted that Articles 28, 29, and 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, alongside the Right to Education Act, 2009, mandate not only education but also overall development, play, and participation. He noted that instead of simply closing or rationalising low-enrolment schools, authorities should consider the National Education Policy 2020 recommendations for school complexes or clusters, allowing neighbouring institutions to share teachers, sports facilities, and activities.