Rajbiraj, April 5

Saptari District Education Officer Dol Raj Pandey has expressed grave concern that lack of birth certificate might deprive children of education as many schools in the district do not admit kids without the document.

Speaking at a meeting held by District Education Office, Saptari to prepare for the School Enrollment Campaign 2017/18, Pandey said, “A large number of children from Dom and Musahar communities in the district do not attend school as they don’t have birth certificate.”

The district education officer added that more than 18.5 per cent children between five and 12 years of age in Saptari did not have access to school.

As per DEO Pandey, the number of dropouts in the district has also been growing due to unemployment, poverty and lack of awareness among parents.

“The dropout rate is high in the district as many children fail to continue studies because of their parents’ ignorance,” the distrit education officer Dol Raj Pandey said.

“Head teachers refuse to admit children at schools without birth certificate. But when service seekers try to procure the birth certificates, office secretaries and other staffers are rarely available at their duty stations,”said Sailendra Chaudhary, an official at Sabal Nepal Sponsorship Propgramme

“The unavailability of birth certificate can deal a blow to the school enrollment drive for the upcoming academic session,” added Chaudhary.

During the meeting, Save the Children Saptari Chairperson Dhruba Prasad Dev, Federation of Nepal Teachers Saptari chapter Chairperson Fuleshwor Kumar Mandal and Officer Dev Shankar Yadav of District Education Office, among others, mulled over strategies to make the campaign a success.

The school enrollment campaign will run from April 15 to April 27 and will be followed by a door-to-door campaign.