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by
Rekha Shresta
 Bardiya
district has more than 200 government and private schools in several
pockets of former bonded labourers' settlement areas. kamaiya
children have no or very little access to them. The reason: schools
are very far from their camps and almost all children above 10 years
have to work for sustenance.
According to the District Education Office, Gularia, there are some
110 early childhood development programs, 151 government and 18
private primary schools, 40 government and 3 private lower secondary
schools, 32 government and 5 private high schools, 4 government and
1 private secondary school and 1 private college in Bardiya
district.
And even though 80 percent children in the district are enrolled in
these schools, the reach of ex-kamaiya children to these
institutions is very minimal as the primary need of these people
today is land, home and employment. Parents here don’t have much of
a choice for they too depend on their children's earning.
No schools have yet been established targeting ex-kamaiya children.
The government has recently launched two programs: Out Reach School
Program and Flexible School Program. Outreach school program has
been introduced for children between six to eight years of age and
flexible school is targeted at children between eight to twelve. The
duration of both programs is three years.
While children enrolled under the outreach school program will be
able to join grade four in government schools once they complete the
three-year outreach course, children studying in flexible schools
will be eligible to join grade six. According to Nayan Singh Dhami,
District Education Officer (DEO), some 200 ex-kamaiya children are
enrolled in such non-formal education in 10 VDCs.
"This year we have sent proposals for opening 20 more non-formal
schools to the District Department of Education," said Dhami. Though
the government officials are not able to provide the actual data
regarding ex-kamaiya children, the estimated number of children is
3500.
Meanwhile, government officials here try not to take responsibility
regarding the education of ex-kamaiya children. DEO Dhami accused
Land Reform Office (LRO) for not settling ex-kamaiyas, which has
been a hindrance against launching education programs permanently.
"Unless the government settles ex-kamaiyas, it is difficult to
launch any program or establish any new school for ex-kamaiya
children," claimed Dhami.
But district Land Reform Officer, Mukti Bahadur Swanr claims that
DEO has never come with a proposal for any such program aimed at ex-kamaiya
children so that his office could help them figure out where to
launch programs. Both the officers welcomed OD program in the
district and believed it can bring about some changes.
 "OD program
is a good approach but it has to be launched only after several
discussions and feasibility study," said Dhami. Echoing Dhami, Swanr
opined, "The program is the right approach to bring changes in the
life of ex-kamaiya children but it should be launched in cooperation
with the government to make it successful."
Teachers and other school-staff are the most essential part for
running schools. But, here schools lack enough teachers. A teacher
is responsible to more than 80 students. For instance, Nepal
Rastriya Primary School at Balati, which is running till grade eight
without government's permission, has more than 150 students in a
classroom. There are three such classes.
Nanda Lal Chapagain reveals that the school drop out rate is very
high. Consider this: Some 200 students study in a classroom when
they are in primary classes but the same number goes down to 30 when
they reach secondary level. "The government does not have enough
quota of teachers and many teachers are recruited from among the
local resources," said Chapagain.
Shanti Kumari Primary School, for example, has three teachers for
700 students. But the local people in their own initiation have
recruited seven more teachers to educate their children. Many
schools have sent proposals for class upgrading but the government
has not yet decided in this regard.
School enrollment of ex-kamaiya children is crucial to raising their
status. But implementing the same is not an easy task, as it more or
less depends on whether parents are entitled to sustainable
employment opportunities. Moreover, easy access to schools can be
called an important factor when it comes to increasing school
enrollment.
"Mostly, ex-kamaiya children in camps like Dhadhwar are deprived of
education because such places are situated in the middle of the
jungle and do not have access not only to schools but also to nearby
towns," says Madan Bahadur Thapa, a teacher at Shree JanJyoti
Secondary School, Shivapur.
In such a context, programs like OD can be crucial to educate these
disadvantaged children, opine almost all teachers, parents and
students interviewed. "Of course, we will send our children to
school if they are provided free education along with educational
materials," voice most parents.
If time takes a new turn and government officials realize the
gravity of the problem and OD program turns out to be successful and
parents send their children to school, poor ex-kamaiya children will
be going to schools pretty soon. As the DEO believes, it will take
at least 5 years for all ex-kamaiya children to be able to go to
school.
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