After the SLC results, Bhawana Tamang came into the national limelight-- Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal invited her and her mother to his official residence to congratulate them; over a dozen schools offered her free education; and generous financial support is pouring in from within the country and abroad. [break]
But her classmates -- Raju Yonjan, Ramesh Bhujel, Bikash Waiba and Pramila Tamang -- still live a dismal life and worry about their future.
It was the coverage of Bhawana´s inspiring story by a national daily that made all the difference. While she was catapulted into some sort of stardom overnight, the rest of the five still live in obscurity -- their stories untold.
Raju Yonjan used to study at Arun Jyoti School when his parents were employed at a carpet factory in Bauddha, and everything was hunky-dory.
But then misfortune struck. The parents lost their jobs, and Raju his school. A few years later Parang and Fulmaya still don´t have any work. But Raju luckily found a school affordable for his unemployed parents, and it is from there that he passed this year´s School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams with flying colors.
“I scored more marks (85.75percent) than top-scoring friends from Arun Jyoti School,” Raju says with a sheepish smile, trying to see a positive side in his family´s situation. But there isn´t much that is positive and his parents are in no position to help him pursue higher studies to become a hotel manager while at the same time putting their unmarried older daughters through college at Pashupati Campus.
Raju´s classmates Ramesh, Bikash and Pramila also have stories to tell similar to that of their friend Bhawana, whose success in the face of abject poverty and abuse from an alcoholic father touched many.
All of them passed this year´s SLC with distinction after having studied up to 10th grade for free at Samata Shiksha Niketan. And each one of them knows first hand poverty and deprivation in every sense.
Ramesh´s parents are farmers struggling to support a younger brother and a younger sister studying in grades seven and six at the same school, which charges a monthly fee of just Rs 100 for every level.
“You just think about your studies and secure good marks,” he recalls his school principal Uttam Sanjel saying to the five classmates. But having secured 85.5 percent in the SLC, a cruel reality has now dawned. He knows his parents cannot help him with further studies to become a computer engineer.
Pramila´s father Dhan Bahadur is a security guard with Rhino Security while her mother Nichen occasionally makes liquor to sell to local restaurants. She also has a sister studying in eighth grade and brothers in fifth and sixth grades at the same school.
“My parents sometimes have difficulty paying the school fees for my siblings,” Pramila says with a note of resignation. After securing 84 percent marks in the SLC, she wants to become a staff nurse. But being the eldest child in the family, she knows their limitations only too well.
Bikash Waiba´s father Jaya Bahadur is a daily wage laborer while his mother Maya weaves carpets. The Waibas also have a son in sixth grade and a daughter in nursery at Samata, and are somehow making ends meet.
Nobel Academy, the +2 college, is showing interest in making arrangements for higher secondary level studies for Bikash, who dreams of becoming a chartered accountant one day.
“I have always wanted to become a chartered accountant and believe I can do well in the field,” says Bikash, who secured 88.25 percent in SLC and was narrowly pipped by Bhawana after doing better than her in pre-SLC and sent-up exams.
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