Students skip class as schools lack basics

BAGLUNG, October 7: Ganesh Giri, a student of Kui-Dang Technical School is always late in his class and skips a great deal of lectures and notes.



"I go to a river to drink water and when I return, the class is nearly over,” says Giri, adding, “When I´m late, I´m always scolded by teachers.” [break]



Giri is not the isolated case. Students in 20 public schools across the district have routinely been skipping their classes whenever they go to thirsty or have bout of diarrhoea for these schools are devoid of drinking water supply and toilets.



When thirsty, students rush home or to a distant water tap; when they have a bout of diarrhea or even minor stomach ache, they have no option but to empty their bowels in the open air. In so doing, they either miss one or two classes or never turn up, said Som Nath Sharma, a resource person at the Bel Bagar Resource Center in the district.



Majority of the students in Jaidi, Chisti and Arjewa VDC of Bel Bagar Resource Center are facing this perennial problem. Of them, Jan Jyoti Adarbhut Technical School, Arjewa, Tara Jyoti Technical School, Bal Bikash Technical School, Chisti, Kui-Dang Technical School, Jaidi are hard hit.



Sharma said students miss 30 minutes of lecture every day. “Everyday students are missing their class. And we are helpless since we have no budget,” he said.



Of the 25 community schools which cater to the educational needs of children in three VDCs, at least 20 lack these facilities, according to Sharma.



“Some students who go home thirsty for water or to toilet to empty their bowels never turn up,” Padam Thapa, teacher at Bal Bikash Technical School, said.



The nearest water tap is some 10 minutes away on foot, he added.



School headteachers lay the blame on ´poor economic condition´ of schools for the scarcity of water and dearth of toilets.



“We haven´t been able to bring water pipeline due to financial situation. We even couldn´t get assistance from the District Education Office (DEO) and drinking water office in this regard,” Chuda Mani Dhungana, principal of Kui-Dang Technical School, said.



When queried, officials at the DEO said due to insufficient budget, they have not been able to provide drinking water lines and toilets to schools.

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