00:00In Bihar's Nalanda district, a government school is drawing attention for an unusual reason.
00:06At new primary school in Chintamanchak village, there are four full-time teachers and just four students.
00:15Each child has a dedicated teacher.
00:22While this may sound like an ideal classroom, it also reflects a deeper reality.
00:27Migration and shrinking rural populations.
00:31The school was set up in 2007 to ensure children in the village had access to primary education close to
00:39home.
00:39At one point, it had nearly 30 students.
00:43But over the years, families moved to cities in search of work and enrollment steadily declined.
00:50Today, there are no students in class 1 and 3.
00:53One child studies in class 2, one in class 4 and two are enrolled in class 5th.
00:59In class 5, there are two children in class 5.
01:11One name Rahul and the other name Sanjit.
01:15Teachers attend regularly and classes continue every day.
01:19but with only four students.
01:21The school misses the energy of group learning,
01:25classroom activities and sports.
01:27Many of the children now live with their grandparents
01:30while their parents work in cities like Surat.
01:34Despite the challenges, they continue to dream big.
02:00One student says he wants to become a doctor.
02:04One student says he wants to become a doctor.
02:27The Bihar government spends nearly Rs. 1.48 lakh every month
02:33on teachers' salaries at this school.
02:36The teachers meanwhile say they would like to be transferred
02:40to schools with more students.
02:55Education officials say they will try to increase enrollment
02:59by encouraging nearby families to send their children to the school.
03:03The story also highlights a wider contrast.
03:07While the school has one teacher for every student,
03:10Bihar's overall student-teacher ratio remains much higher
03:14than the national average.
03:16A school where no child is left without a teacher
03:18but where the bigger challenge is ensuring
03:21there are enough children left to teach.
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