Reports claim that the first stage of the campaign has been 80 percent successful but even those involved in the campaign say the official data is not correct.
According to them, participation in the second phase of the program, which began in late April, is also minimal.
“The maximum number of students that attend the classes is six,” says Puja Bastola, a volunteer with the campaign at Ittavatta, Mechinagar-7.
“But since we were told to send a report stating that there were 30 students, we did so,” added Bastola.
She claims that most of her friends working as volunteers did likewise.
The literacy campaign was begun by the previous government led by the Maoists. It had begun literacy classes in three places in each ward of one district and one class in each ward of one village. The campaign that began without enough homework has become ineffective due to a low participation rate and lack of proper monitoring.
The government on the other hand claims that the literacy programs have been successful.
“We found the situation to be good when we went for monitoring in a few places,” says Dipak Kafle, District Education Officer.
According to the data of the education office, 8,385 people joined the first phase of the campaign in Jhapa alone. Out of those who enrolled in the program, 1,380 remained absent. Those involved in the campaign say that the actual number of absentees is a lot higher.
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