Deprived of Education

by Rekha Shresta

21. May 2004

Bardiya district has more than 200 government and private schools in several pockets of former bonded laborers' settlement areas. Kamaiya children have no or very little access to them. The reason: schools are very far from their camps and almost all children above ten years have to work for sustenance.

According to the District Education Office, Gularia, there are some 110 early childhood development programs, 151 government and 18 private primary schools, 40 government and 3 private lower secondary schools, 32 government and five private high schools, four governments and one private secondary school and one private college in Bardiya district.

And even though 80 percent children in the district are enrolled in these schools, the reach of ex-kamaiya children to these institutions is very minimal as the primary need of these people today is land, home and employment. Parents here don’t have much of a choice for they too depend on their children's earning.

No schools have yet been established targeting ex-kamaiya children. The government has recently launched two programs: Outreach School Program and Flexible School Program. Outreach school program has been introduced for children between six to eight years of age and flexible school is targeted at children between eight to twelve.

The duration of both programs is three years.

While children enrolled under the outreach school program will be able to join grade four in government schools once they complete the three-year outreach course, children studying in flexible schools will be eligible to join grade six. According to Nayan Singh Dhami, District Education Officer (DEO), some 200 ex-kamaiya children are enrolled in such non-formal education in ten VDCs.

"This year we have sent proposals for opening 20 more non-formal schools to the District Department of Education," says Nayan Singh Dhami.

Though the government officials are not able to provide the actual data regarding ex-kamaiya children, the estimated number of children is 3500.

Meanwhile, government officials here try not to take responsibility regarding the education of ex-kamaiya children. DEO Nayan Singh Dhami accuses the Land Reform Office (LRO) for not settling ex-kamaiyas, which has been a hindrance against launching education programs permanently.

"Unless the government settles ex-kamaiyas, it is difficult to launch any program or establish any new school for ex-kamaiya children," claims Nayan Singh Dhami.

But district Land Reform Officer, Mukti Bahadur Swanr claims, that DEO has never come with a proposal for any such program aimed at ex-kamaiya children so that his office could help them figure out where to launch programs. Both the officers welcomed the OD program in the district and believed it can bring about some changes.

"The OD program is a good approach but it has to be launched only after several discussions and feasibility study," says Nayan Singh Dhami. Echoing Dhami, Mukti Bahadur Swanr says:

"The program is the right approach to bring changes in the life of ex-kamaiya children but it should be launched in cooperation with the government to make it successful."

Teachers and other school-staff are the most essential part for running schools. But, here schools lack enough teachers. A teacher is responsible to more than 80 students. For instance, Nepal Rastriya Primary School at Balati, which is running till grade eight without government's permission, has more than 150 students in a classroom. There are three such classes.

Nanda Lal Chapagain reveals that the school drop out rate is very high. Consider this: Some 200 students study in a classroom when they are in primary classes but the same number goes down to 30 when they reach secondary level. "The government does not have enough quotas of teachers and many teachers are recruited from among the local resources," said Nanda Lal Chapagain.

Shanti Kumari Primary School, for example, has three teachers for 700 students. But the local people in their own initiation have recruited seven more teachers to educate their children. Many schools have sent proposals for class upgrading but the government has not yet decided in this regard.

School enrollment of ex-kamaiya children is crucial to raising their status. But implementing the same is not an easy task, as it more or less depends on whether parents are entitled to sustainable employment opportunities. Moreover, easy access to schools can be called an important factor when it comes to increasing school enrollment.

"Mostly, ex-kamaiya children in camps like Dhadhwar are deprived of education because such places are situated in the middle of the jungle and do not have access not only to schools but also to nearby towns," says Madan Bahadur Thapa, a teacher at Shree JanJyoti Secondary School, Shivapur.

In such a context, programs like OD can be crucial to educate these disadvantaged children, opine almost all teachers, parents and students interviewed. "Of course, we will send our children to school if they are provided free education along with educational materials," voice most parents.

If time takes a new turn and government officials realize the gravity of the problem and OD program turns out to be successful and parents send their children to school, poor ex-kamaiya children will be going to schools pretty soon. As the DEO believes, it will take at least five years for all ex-kamaiya children to be able to go to school.