As with all school years in Mongolia, the first day of school is September 1st even it is falls on a Saturday, as was the case this year. The ceremony was the usual mix of readings,
singing,
and dancing.
At the end of the ceremony two of the first graders (out of 8 first graders) rang the school bell.
And, the students went inside for a meeting with their class teachers and to watch a televised class by the president of Mongolia.

One of the aspects of our school that I especially like is its small size. Unfortunately it is shrinking at such a pace that it will be empty in just a few years. This year we have 170 students in 11 classes. Compare this to the same school 10 years ago when it have 370 students or the school where my friend works which has 1000 students. The norm in other schools is classes with 30 to 40 students, multiple classes for each grade, and little teacher attention for students. In Khankhongor my biggest class has 18 students, the rest have 9-13 kids, and there is only one class for each grade. This picture on the first day of school gives you an idea as to the size of the school population.
The reasons for the shrinking school population here not entirely clear, but it is most likely due to people moving to over towns within Omnogobi where there are mines and mining jobs. I don’t know if there is much our town can do to boost enrollment, but I am certainly not complaining.