KATHMANDU, Sept 8: In the southern outskirts of the Valley, Purnamaya Maskey is preparing for the SLC exams. At the age of 78, Purnamaya wants to make it through the board exam, a dream that she developed seven years ago when first learning to read and write.
Purnamaya studies with her 54 classmates in grade 10 at Siruwapur Open School, Dakhshinkali. The school was established for adults like her."The school also helps earlier school dropouts to re-connect with mainstream education through non-formal classes," said Binod Mahat, headmaster of the school.
While the Non-Formal Education Center (NFEC) plans to wind up its basic literacy classes for illiterates of the 15-60 years age group by the end of 2015, this particular school has changed the lives of many adults who had given up any hope of attaining success through education.
The school was established here in 2009 as part of the post-literacy program under NFEC, and it targetted adults who wish to continue with their education after completing three months of basic literacy classes.
Lalita Lamichhane, a teacher at the school, talks about the challenges of making adults understand the lessons. She admires the zeal of students like Purnamaya.
Lalita, 29, has a story of her own about success in non-formal classes.
She dropped out of school as an eighth grader in 1999 when her parents arranged for her to get married. Having left school at 16, Lalita was tempted to return and eventually get into higher education. Her dream was finally fulfilled in 2009, when the open school for post-literates was established in her village. Resuming school seven years ago, she is now a graduate from the Education faculty.
Three more teachers besides her are currently teaching at the school. They are themselves the first SLC batch to pass from here.
"This open school has already institutionalized what the government envisages after concluding its literacy campaign," says NFEC Director Babu Ram Poudel.
NFEC targets to achieve total literacy in the set age group by December-end and will be moving towards the concept of open schools, post literacy programs and income generating programs for the new literates to ensure that the investment made in them does not go in vain.
Unveiling literacy data recently, NFEC claimed that as much as 92 percent of the people in the target group have achieved literacy, while only 8 percent is yet to come under the campaign.
"Over 90 percent adult literacy has been achieved after years of struggle by the government, and now the challenge is to ensure that they don't forget what they have learnt," said Director Poudel.
To retain them in educational and income generating work, the Center has set up 5,050 new community learning centers targetted at the newly literate, he added.
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