Notebooks and ball pens are available in the village, but they are expensive, Shanti said. [break]
The two arrive at Basantapur market, which is a two-hour walk from Dangapa, with their elder sister Binita, hoping to make it big someday after acquiring education. Santa, a fourth grader, wants to become a teacher in the future. Shanti is a second grader.
Binita, 13, who is a sixth grader at Kalika Secondary School in Dangapa, shoulders the responsibility of guiding her younger siblings to Basantapur market with as much vegetable and fruits as they can carry, and purchase stationery for them. She has been getting top grades in her class since the first grade.
Binita says she wants to see her younger siblings to do as better in their studies.
However, it is not only the Limbu kids in Tehrathum who sell agricultural produce to support their education. Children from other communities share similar stories, according to Laxman Tiwari, former member of the District Development Committee.
Tiwari added that while children from rich families go to the cities to acquire education, those from the poor families do not enjoy such privileges.
Yam Narayan Mabuhang, a teacher at Kalika Secondary School, said more than 70 percent of students enrolled in the school are engaged in some form of labor. As much as 30 percent of school-going kids eventually drop out. There are almost 40,000 children below the age of 16 in Tehrathum district.
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