Dhankuta, January 28

Ninth-grader Nirmala Rai of Golkhadi Secondary School in Sangurigadhi Rural Municipality-7 sets out for school at 8:00 am every day in Dhankuta.

Rai at Mahabharat in the RM walks for two hours to get to the school. She commutes for four hours daily. “If I am late I will miss class,” she says.

Rai’s is just a case in point. Out of 300 students at the school from nursery to grade X, a majority of them have to walk a long distance daily to attend school. “On an average around 55 per cent students of the school have to commute to school for four hours each day,” said teacher Mohan Rai. Students from Mahabharat, Askot, Hutiten, Khorlumphu, Sighakhola and Chhinamchowk have to walk for hours to attend school.

Since parents of the majority of students leave for work early in the morning, children have to prepare meal in the morning and evening too. They sit for exam sans preparation due to lack of time.

Long distance to school and negligence on the part of authorities have forced many students to drop out of school and quit studies.