Students Forced to Walk for Hours to Attend School in Remote Village

Despite the government’s standard of building schools within a half-hour walking distance, students in a remote village are forced to walk for over three hours to attend class. This is the case for students in Mahashila Rural Municipality-4 Pakhapani, Parbat, who need to walk for hours to attend the only school offering Plus Two.

To reach the public development center in Lamtun, students from Shimle, Bhandari Thar, Kokhe, Chaudilla, and other settlements of Pakhapani must walk uphill for two hours every morning. According to Rahul Bhandari, a class 12 student, he had to travel a long way to attend Plus Two, even though he studied up to SEE in the local Swadharma Mavi and Vishwajyoti Mavi.

Student Shivkala Kshetri added that the school’s distance from the settlement causes her to suffer. If the school were closer, she could study more in the morning and complete her household tasks. However, due to the school’s distance, she has no time for either.

Ward president Puran Mallal shared that more students walk to school than those who live in Lamtun, the town where the school is located. Although schools in more accessible areas have higher population densities, they do not offer classes 11 and 12, forcing students to walk for hours to attend the only school in the ward offering these classes.

Furthermore, students are afraid to walk on the mountain road during windy days and fear landslides during the rainy season. Student Sarjan Chettri stated that over 50 students like him suffer because higher secondary schools are not open in Swadharma High School and Vishwajyoti High School, which are near the settlement.

Despite the challenges, the school’s principal, Chakra Bahadur Chhetri, waits for students who come from far away, starting classes only when they arrive. As the only school in the ward offering Plus Two, it attracts a high number of students.