Ramechhap, August 26

Children from Majhi community at Kothabe have been compelled to go to school from a hut inside a forest due to lack of bridge over the Sunkoshi River in Khandadevi Rural Municipality, Ramechhap district.

Mostly girl students spend nights in a small hut in the forest near their school as they cannot cross the flooded Sunkoshi River with the help of tyre tubes during rainy season. They have been staying in the hut in a group. They go to school from the hut on all working days, except holidays. But boys have been commuting to school from their homes as they can cross the river with the help of tyre tubes.

Sushila Majhi, a tenth grader, said that they have been staying in a hut inside the forest as it was risky and difficult to cross the swollen river every day. “However, we are compelled to cross the river risking our lives on Sundays and Fridays every week,” she said. Sushila added that they crossed the river with the help of tubes every Sunday to attend school from home and returned home every Friday after class. “Spending nights inside the hut in the forest is very scary,” said Sushila.

Kothabe has as many as 50 households. A total of 22 students from the Majhi community are studying at Guda Bazaar Secondary School in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality. Students rely on tyre tubes to cross the river as the route with a concrete bridge over the river is one-and-half-hour walk from Kothabe.

Another sixth grader Reshma Majhi said they could, cross the river with the help of tubes during winter. “But crossing the flooded river in rainy season is dangerous,” she added.

Bir Bahadur Majhi, a local, said they have been sending their wards to school from the hut inside the forest. He complained that many leaders had assured villagers that a bridge would be built, but they never kept their promise. He said children from the Majhi community got elementary level education at a local primary school in Kothabe, but they had to attend Guda Bazaar Secondary School in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality to continue their studies.