Blind students left in lurch

JOGBUDA (DADELDHURA), March 19: Blind students have been left in lurch after schools providing residential facility to them stopped the service citing lack of finances.



Siddhanath Higher Secondary School in Jogbuda is the only school in the district that had been providing boarding facility for blind students since 10 years. [break]



The school that has six students enrolled for the special class has now stopped providing residential facility saying the scholarship of Rs 1,300 provided to each blind student is insufficient to cover their cost.



The students get only lentils and rice to eat these days with fruits and vegetables struck off the menu. “The government brought us here from our home promising free education. And now we have been left without any help,” bemoaned Lal Bahadur Kami of Sirsha.



Pashupati Dhami of Jogbuda said there is no way the students can continue their education if they go back to their homes. Tularam Kami and Nanda Nepali are from Sirsha while Narendra Panta is from Dewal, and Janaki Bhatta and Lal Bahadur Kami from Sameji.



The District Education Office (DEO) in Dadeldhura, however, has assured that it would make arrangements in other schools for the students.



Similarly, our Rukum correspondent Kamal Thapa reports that special classes at six schools of the district are on the verge of closing down owing to lack of financial resources casting gloom over the future of around 50 differently-abled students.



Saraswati Secondary School, Salle, Khalanga Primary School, Dangichour, Khalanga, Prabhat Secondary School Chhibang, Chhipridaha Lower Secondary School, Rukumkot and Athbiskot Primary School had been providing classes for the deafs, blinds and mentally challenged students along with residential facility. But the schools have been facing financial hardship for the past two years.



“The government has provided only one teacher for special classes in each of these schools but we are now on the verge of closing down in lack of hostel and separate buildings,” said Ganesh KC, a special teacher at Khalanga Primary School, Dangichour. The schools also complain that the government provides the monthly allowance of Rs 1,300 for only 10 months despite the fact that students stay almost the whole year round.



“The price of everything has gone up significantly and the amount we receive is not enough to cover the cost of everything from stationery to toiletries. The amount should be raised to at least Rs 2,000 per month,” a teacher at Prabhat Primary School, Bijaya Kumar Oli said.

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