Kathmandu, May 22

During the month-long student enrolment campaign launched by the government, only 377 people took guardianship of out-of-school children.

Among people who took guardianship of impoverished children, many are leaders of various political parties.

According to officials at the Department of Education, guardianship of altogether 709 students was taken during the month-long campaign that ended on May 14.

Officials said the number might increase slightly as schools had not stopped enrolling children.

According to data with the DoE, approximately 88,713 children between five and nine years are out of school in the country. The government wanted to enrol all such students in Grade I this year during the student enrolment campaign.  Similarly, additional 224,287 children between nine and 12 years of age are deprived of education in the country. However, the government has not prepared any concrete plan to bring them to schools yet.

Addressing the nation on April 14 from Rara Lake in Mugu, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had said no child would be deprived of education.

The PM had urged all political leaders, social activists and other interested individuals to take guardianship of poor students. He had himself taken guardianship of three students from Siraha and Mugu districts.

According to spokesperson at the Ministry of Education Baikuntha Aryal, of the total 88,713 out-of-school children, the government has successfully enrolled 34,344 children this year. He also said altogether 724,353 students were enrolled in Grade I this year.

A meeting of DoE officials today decided not to extend the student enrolment campaign.