According to Chief of RDC Parash Husain, most of the children, who do not go to school, are from Dalit and Muslim communities. “First, the parents of these children are illiterate and second they are unable to afford their children´s education,” said Husain. [break]
Not that there are no schools nearby but the children of Musahar settlement in Gaur Municipality -3 aren´t fortunate enough to be going to schools. Similar, is the case of children from Pariyar Tole in ward 8 and 10 of Gaur Municipality.
“Many of these children are enrolled in schools. But most of them instead of attending classes assist their parents in the fields,” said principal of Bhagwati Primary School Nagendra Prasad Barma.
Meanwhile, a local Newalal Dagar shared that the children from Dalit families are discriminated against by the teachers. “They are made to sit on the floor while other students sit on chairs and benches,” said Dagar.
However, Barma denied the allegations and said that the school was proving free lunch to encourage children from Dalit families to attend classes.
Likewise, Mukunda Aalmale, a member of the management committee of Juddha Higher Secondary School, informed that children from the Muslim community are sent to India to work as laborers at an early age to earn a living for the family. “About 50,000 youths of the district are working in India,” said Aalmale.
Rautahat District Education Officer (DEO) Dilip Kumar Thakur assured that they would leave no stone unturned to improve literacy rate in the district. “We have already chalked out a program to encourage enrolment. Now we only need to implement them,” said Thakur.
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