The children in Thulibarkhu at Dandagaun VDC-9 of Rukum district are attending classes in the hut after an Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC), where they were studying, shut down due to budget crunch. [break]
The District Education Office (DEO) of Rukum says that it had received budget from the Department of Education (DoE) to operate the ECDC for only one year. “As our program period ended last year only, the ECDC was closed down,” says Binaram Khadka, an official at the Rukum DEO.
After completing the third grade in Thulibarkhu, the children have to go to Ghapaghar Lower Secondary School in nearby Duli VDC, which is three-hour walk from Dandagaun. Although there is a secondary school in Dandagaun VDC, the children of Thulibarkhu find it easy to go to Duli.
Although they have built the hut, there are no teachers. There are only some volunteer teachers. “We cannot pay for teachers,” says Man Bahadur KC, a local resident. “We cannot even ask them to teach the children every day because they do not get salaries.”
The local say they have asked local leaders and government officials several times for a school building and a teacher´s post. “Every one gives assurances,” said Balbir Khatri, another local resident, “But, no one has come to help us.”
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