"We students ourselves are working to build our classrooms so that our school can be reopened by May 31, the government set timeframe," said Suraj.All four buildings of the school were destroyed, four teachers were killed and four were injured in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake. The debris of its collapsed buildings left no space to build makeshift tents on the school campus, so the school administration had to rent land for it.
Parents are worried their children's future might be ruined if the school fails to reopen on time. Chiru Maya Gurung wiping sweats off her face, said, "I don't want my daughter's studies to be affected. So, I'm contributing all I can from my side."
The quake destroyed more than 3,000 classrooms in the district. After receiving government's directive to reopen school from May 31, parents, students unions and others have also been working to rebuild the schools in each villages and they are determined to meet the May 31 deadline. At least one makeshift tent has been erected in each school in the district. However, due to large number of students who will need many classrooms, whether the schools will be able to resume studies from May 31 is doubtful.
"How are we supposed to run five classes under a single tent? It's nearly impossible," said Ishwari Prasad Adhikari, principal of local Bhachhek Primary School.
Although the District Education Office has decided to provide each school Rs 25,000 for clearing the debris, the money has yet to be released.
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