CHITWAN, March 2: School-going children in a village inhabited by the Chepangs in Chitwan district are found to be spending their time in household chores or playing instead of studying, thanks to the devastating earthquake that destroyed the only school building of the village some 22 months ago.

Efforts have not been made to reconstruct the school building of Rakshirang VDC of Kaule in Chitwan causing a great setback to the children of the already marginalized community.

It takes more than two hours for students to go to schools located outside the village. Difficult terrain makes it hard for the little children to reach schools due to which parents hesitate to send them to schools.

There is a secondary school in Hattibang. But due to the long distance, students find it taxing to go there. 

“We had established a primary school in Kaule to educate students of the marginalized communities. But, unfortunately, the school was destroyed by the earthquake,” said Bhuminandan Ghimire, former principal and teacher of Hattibang School.

Villagers accuse the authorities of neglecting the issue. They claim that they have time and again informed Bikash Adhikari, chairperson of the Education Committee, about the problem. Villagers claim that although Adhikari had promised to do something about it, unfortunately he was transferred to another place before he could solve the problem. This had made the villagers worried about the future of their children.

Even the Ministry of Education has been informed about this problem but nothing has been done yet.

“We are still hopeful that the government will do something so that our children will be able to go to schools again,” said Ghimire. According to him, this is a great issue in Chitwan which has already been declared as fully literate district.

Villagers lament that lots of things are lacking in the village but the first and foremost thing they want is education for their children. Goma Chepang of the village wants the government to establish a school for their children as soon as possible. 

“I just can't see my kids wasting their time at home. I want them to have a bright future. For that, they need to go to school,” she said.

 
• chepang village
 
• students
 
• lack of school
 
• playing