“The days go by just giving home-works instead of teaching,” rued Binita Thapa, the only teacher at the Shree Batuk Bhairab Primary School. “I just move on to every class and give them work to keep them quiet,” Thapa added.[break]
She complained the children´s education has been affected due to lack of teachers as she can only manage a single period in a class every day. “We have to teach over 30 subjects in classes one to five every day. I cannot take more than 6-7 periods a day,” she explained.
A majority of students at the school are from Tamang and Chepang community who walk up to three hours to reach the school. She conceded getting to study just a single period was not worth the trouble. “We have to leave our home at seven in the morning. But the teacher can´t find to teach us more than a subject a day,” complained fifth grader Sunita Lama.
First grader Ishwar Gole doesn´t know the Nepali alphabets yet and he spends the days playing with his friends after walking for three hours to reach school. “We don´t have teachers to teach us. So, we don´t feel like staying in the classes,” said Gole who was seen grappling with a friend in the ground.
Teacher Thapa said there are just 45 students in the school and the DEO has been refusing to send more teachers citing lack of students. “Many children have refused to get enrolled in the school saying there are no teachers here. We can attract more students with additional teachers,” she countered.
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