Principal of Dailatung Lower Secondary School Krishna Prasad Basyal said hardly 15 students of regularly attend classes. Children set out of their homes with school bags, but a majority of them end up fishing in the river. [break]
Principal Basyal attributes lack of enrollment to poverty and illiterate guardians. “While the parents struggle to make ends meet, the kids don´t have time for learning,” Basyal explained. The Botes send their children to work and earn money rather than to school.
As their age-old occupation of boating no longer provides enough for their livelihood, the Botes have been compelled to work as daily laborers and domestic helps.
Teacher Keshav Baral said awareness campaigns have failed to yield results.
Krishna Bahadur Bote has two sons and a daughter under the age of 12 but none of them go to school. “We can´t afford to send them to school,” Bote said, adding, “Being the children of poor parents they will have to work hard for livelihood. If they start working early, they will be stronger and also learn how to work.”
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