The devastating earthquake did not spare any of the school buildings. At present, children have been studying inside poorly constructed makeshift structures, which are known as Temporary Learning Centers (TLC).
Himalayan Higher Secondary School (HSS) at Barpak-4 had six buildings on its premises. Only one of these escaped serious damage in the quake and this may have been because it was a ferro-concrete structure. The remaining five structures, which were built in the traditional fashion out of stones and mud, were reduced to rubble. The children at the school started studying in TLCs once their classes resumed.
“Although we have had lots of promises of permanent school buildings from the government and from non-governmental organizations, we do not know when these will be constructed,” said Bishnudeb Prasad Shah, a school teacher.
The main challenge the school is currently facing, according to Shah, is the restoration of the school lab with its costly equipment, the computer lab and the library.
The school had set up the science lab with grants and donations of Rs 500,000 collected from various quarters. All the lab equipment was lost in the rubble of the collapsed school buildings.
“For lack of a practicals lab, we have been teaching only theoretical science. Even if the school manages to construct permanent buildings, we have no budget for a science lab, and this means students cannot get a quality education in science,” added Shah.
Likewise, over 1,500 books at the school library are no longer in a readable condition, informed Thim Bahadur Gale, head of the library. “The school's library was considered outstanding in this area. However, many of the library books were lost or damaged in the quake and are not in a condition to be read,” he informed.
Similarly, the quake also destroyed the computer lab. The school had nine desktop computers and six laptops, and these too got buried in the debris.
At present, students from two other schools have also been studying at Himalayan HSS. Akala Devi Primary School of Barpak-8 and Jana Kalyan Primary School of Barpak-4 have merged with Himalayan HSS after cracks appeared in the land on which those schools stood, and they had no place for setting up a TLC, informed Shah, the school teacher.
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