The marginalized community, living by the side of road and riverbanks, has started the campaign with a strategy of using education as a weapon in their ethnic struggle. [break]
"We have felt that we have lagged behind others for generations due to the lack of education," President of National Musahar Uplift Society Chandeshwar Sada said about the campaign aimed at righting the historic wrong.
The Musahars have decided to form a committee identifying four leaders in every settlement to monitor whether the children go to schools or not. "The committee will issue warnings up to four times and if the parents don´t send their children even after the warnings, they will be socially boycotted and will be declared untouchables," Sada said.
There are around 1.2 million Musahars living in 18 districts of Tarai and the society has decided to use the vast populace to form a fund to financially assist the campaign. "Every family will contribute one rupee and a fistful of grains every month to the fund," Sada added. He argued the fund will help in making the campaign sustainable.
The Musahars have traditionally been averse to education and Ram Safal Sada of Sothian, Siraha, who is studying sociology, is the only person from the community to pursue a master´s degree. Eight have passed diploma, 200 certificate level and 500 SLC till date. Consequently they are also not well represented in public services. "A few of us are working as teachers and in the department of forests," Sada said.
According to government records, only seven percent of Musahar kids go to schools while the rest are not familiar with the alphabets. The government has also focused on the community through its School Sector Reform Program to increase the rate of enrollment at schools.
Likewise, non-governmental organization like Save the Children has also conducted awareness programs in Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha and Saptari districts through its educational programs. "We have decided to educate our children and expect the government to support us by allotting a teacher in every Musahar settlement," Balaram Sada said.
Related story
NMB, NBI join hands for financial literacy program
