Khotang, July 7

Students in Dobelabich Lower Secondary School in Dorpa Chiuridanda VDC, Khotang are compelled to take classes in the veranda due to lack of classrooms.

The school management committee and the concerned authority have yet to rebuild classrooms after the school building was damaged in last year’s earthquake.

Head Teacher Raj Kumar Shrestha said students of grade IV, V and the Child Development Centre have been taking classes in the balcony of the administrative block of the school.

“As many as 11 children of grade IV, 15 of grade V, and 13 of pre-primary students have been taking classes in the veranda,’’ he informed.

Shrestha added that the District Education Office has yet to take the initiative though he had filed the necessary application and made requests repeatedly. “We expected the DEO to help in rebuilding the infrastructures after the school building collapsed in last year’s tremor,’ he said.

Shrestha said that his school was deprived of the allocated budget. He said that a room was divided with a tent and classes of grade II and III were conducted in partitioned space.

The school was in the list of quake affected schools in the district and leaders from local political parties along with the District Education Committee have been distributing budget for construction of quake-affected buildings.

Teachers, guardians, and stakeholders were disheartened when the school’s name was not included in the list in the final stage of the decision.

Meanwhile, locals and the school administration have been constructing a building with two rooms with a budget of Rs 10 lakh.

Dorpa Chiuridanda VDC has offered one lakh rupees while the remaining amount will be covered by the school itself.