Munger, Jan. 1: Government primary schools at Bhimbandh and Sonarva, in the Maoist stonghold of Kharagpur forest 70 km from Munger town, run without teachers most of the time.

The primary schools, with classes I to V, is attended by students belonging to the local tribal population. While interest in education has surged among residents in the past years, school administration remains lax and uninterested.

"My teacher comes to school only 10 days in a month, and he stays for about two to four hours only," Mithun Kumar, a student of Class II at Bhimbandh primary school, told The Telegraph.

The neglect Mithun and his peers suffer was evident when he struggled to recite the alphabet beyond the letter E. "I do not know more," he said.

The primary school at Bhimbandh has only one teacher, said Raj Kumar Thakur, the father of student.

"There are about 100 students enrolled at the school, but there is only one teacher for all classes. He comes for only 10 days a month. Education is a farce here," said Raj.

Most families in the area cannot afford to enrol their children in private schools at Kharagpur in Munger district, he added.

The story is the same at Sonarva's primary school.

"The sole teacher at Sonarva primary school comes about five days a month. He signs the attendance register and leaves within the hour," said Bharat Thakur, a resident of Sonarva village.

Munger district education officer K.K. Sharma accepted the dismal state of education.

"The department is trying to address the problem. We are trying to depute teachers belonging to similar tribal communities to these schools to ensure that the desired attention is paid to the children enrolled," said Sharma.

The area has six schools and efforts would be made to improve all of them, he added.

When The Telegraph spoke to Munger district magistrate Uday Kumar Singh about the state of primary education in the area, he said: "Strict action will be taken against erring teachers. No one can be allowed to fool people with impunity."