Krishna blamed his poor results on the flooding in August which hampered his studies."I was traumatized by the flood and its effects did not leave me even during the exams. I couldn't perform to the best of my abilities," said the student of Aamarjyoti Model Higher Secondary School.
Much as everything else, the catastrophic flood of August has now washed away his dream to secure 1st division in the SLC as he failed in English.
As many as 193 students had participated in the recent SLC exams from his school. Among them, around 90% are homeless as the flood had swept away their homes, according to Khagendra Thapa, an assistant teacher at the school.
All of the students were still in the temporary camps as they appeared in the exams. "How can we expect them to score well amid such difficulties? No wonder, only 39% students passed," said Thapa.
Although Bheri High School of Taranga VDC has had excellent records in the SLC exams, not a single student passed this year. "Majority of the students who appeared in the exams are flood victims. Some of them have lost their parents or relatives. Hence, we couldn't have expected good results," said a parent, Janak Shahi.
Eight community schools in the district have zero percent success in the recent SLC exam, as per the District Education Office (DEO) of Surkhet. Among them, six schools are located in heavily flood-affected VDCs. "There may be other reasons behind the poor performance at schools. However, the disastrous flood without doubt is a major factor. It has had a negative psychological impact on the students," acknowledged Bhoj Prasad Lamsal, school inspector of the DEO.
"In the aftermath of such disasters poor results are not surprising. Students are in deep psychological trauma," said Lamsal.
Displaced students could not focus entirely on their studies as they were forced to work to support themselves or their families.
Krishna, for instance, could not prepare well for the exams as he had to help his family earn extra income after their house was washed away. "Although he had always managed to score good earlier, the flood left him more worried about supporting the family that was in dire straits," his sister-in-law said.
Psychologist Bimala Dangi said people lose efficiency if their mental wellbeing is affected. "No doubt, the psychological impacts of floods and landslides are seen in this year's SLC results," she said.
Stakeholders said the government should provide psychological counseling to the traumatized students and create suitable environment to help the students return to normalcy.
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