School under a tree
Romantic as it may sound, it is no fun to be sitting under a tree in scorching heat and trying to figure out what the teacher is trying to make you understand! That is exactly what Kamala Adhikari saw three years ago while on the way to a primary school near Kholikatan in Kailali district: a shabbily dressed man with a gaping hole in his shoes deeply engrossed in teaching a group of children, all of them under a big tree. Around 20 children huddled together to get as much shade as the knowledge their guru was trying to impart. A blackboard was hanging from a branch which could be reached by the teacher. Some children were dozing off, unable to figure out what was being taught, while others looked alert and interested.
After watching this scene for some time, Adhikari approached the man to find out what was going on. She was informed that he was imparting non-formal education to a group of children from the Kholi community. The teacher had been trained by the Lutheran World Service. He was also a dalit and had been educated only up to grade five. He was keen to make sure the children in his community were educated beyond that.
At the beginning, lessons were given in a building belonging to the Forest Users’ Group, but the class were soon asked to vacate the premises. The community didn’t give up. They were determined to give their kids the best possible chance to have an education. It was decided that land in the Kholikatan area where they lived was to be allocated for a school for the children.
The Kholikatan area is an area near the road in Kailali’s Ataria that was sectioned off by locals for the Kholi communities to live in. As they belonged to a dalit community, no member of the community owned land. Several years ago, a Kholi member helped a villager who was lost in the woods and gained sympathy. The community was then given land by the river on the other side of the road to settle in.
After deciding on the land, the community then applied to the Village Development Committee for permission to build the school. Lack of financial resources meant that the construction could not take place immediately. The community found the biggest tree in the plot and cleared a spot under the tree for the children to sit, thereby founding the school under the tree.
Adhikari supported the school by first providing the students with stationery and other educational materials. A small mud hut was then built for the children. The community also requested support from the Ministry of Education. They now have two salaried teachers and hold classes for grades one and two. The two teachers have split the salary and hired three more teachers. Thus, the Kholikatan Primary School was beginning to form a new identity.
However, trouble followed soon after for this seemingly-perfect setting. Although the community had finally been able to set up a basic rudimentary school infrastructure, the river which surrounds the school’s premises flooded, ruining all books and stationery within (the school had no cupboard to store them in). The river has now aggressively eroded its banks and could even carry away the hut that the school is housed in. The villagers have attempted to build a barricade to stop the river from flooding the school once again, but this puts their plans of building three more rooms to accomodate classes up to grade five on hold.
Although the Kholi children now have a roof over their heads, they have to go to the nearest higher secondary school if they are to continue beyond grade two. But the other school is an hour’s walk away. More disturbing news followed a visit to the higher-secondary school, which confirmed that most dalit children did not attend school even though they had been registered.
From under a tree, the children of Kholikatan have passed their first hurdle and are now under a roof. There’s is not the only such story, but it remains a remarkable instance of positive change. The need of the day is to concentrate on the education of all of Nepal’s children. How about political parties making this their agenda, instead of hankering after power?
namrata1964@yahoo.com
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