Feature: Revival of school education remains in limbo in quake-hit Nepal

The premises of Kuleshwar Secondary School located in the capital looked different on Sunday morning, the first day of the resumption of teaching at educational institutions in quake-stricken Nepal after more than a month off.

Cheerful students dressed in their school uniforms were busy engaging in different outdoor activities including table tennis, skipping, badminton and sharing their one-month-vacation experiences with teachers and friends.

When the school bell rang at 10 a.m., all the students gathered in an assembly and started meditating for few minutes rather than holding school prayers as is the normal routine.

This specific meditation technique was adopted as a part of freeing the fearful mind of students from the scars of the earthquake and continuous aftershocks.

Among 768 students in total, around 200 students marked their presence on the first day.

Meghraj Dulal, the principal of the school, told Xinhua, "We will engage the students in different extra-curricular activities and provide them psycho-social counseling for two weeks, then only the regular routine curriculum will be resumed, if everything goes well," he said.

Established in 1990, the buildings of the school have been completely damaged by the quake. However, the school administration is yet to decide on reconstruction and resettlement of the classrooms as they are waiting for instruction from the government body.

In such a situation, the resuming of regular classes and curriculums might take a long time.

Two temporary learning centers have been set up by UNICEF on the premises, which has been limited to kindergarten and primary level students for drawing, singing and other mental activities.

According to UNICEF, altogether 32,000 classrooms were destroyed after the two major quakes. It estimates that there is a need to set up 4,668 temporary learning centers and train 19,568 teachers and facilitators on psychological support and life-saving messages.

"Children who are out of school for prolonged periods of time after disaster are more likely to become dropouts. Amid such a reality, the resumption of schools is a great beginning, But the foremost priority should be given to setting-up of temporary learning centers as the schools have witnessed severe damage," Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Nepal representative, told Xinhua.

The government along with other partners is yet to assess the condition one-third of the quake-hit schools. Until now, the expert teams have assessed only 1,300 of the total 1970 public and private schools in the valley.

There is a need for 500 temporary learning centers in the valley, but only 100 have been constructed so far.

The devastation on April 25 not only prohibited the children from their basic needs like food, shelter, health and physical safety, but has been a major hindrance for the utmost important " right to education".

One of the examples is of Buddhist monastery (Yellow Gumba) in the capital, which has been providing shelter for 178 quake- displaced under-16 children of Langtang valley, a hilly settlement in Rasuwa district.

Eight-year-old Sonam Tamang was studying in Grade 3 in Shree Nepal National Primary School, a single school in Langtang. But the April 25 avalanche triggered by the quake not only displaced his family and their "Happy Homes" hotel, but also his whole village including a temple of education.

Tamang, who spent the last month without touching a book, recently shared with Xinhua in the monastery, "I play with my friends in the camp for the whole day. I don't have books, paper or a pen. I want to go to school again. I want to return own village."

Dozens of other such training camps in the capital lack the temporary learning shelters. The scenario of other highly-affected districts can be imagined easily, where more than 90 percent of the school buildings have been damaged.

Resuming school classes is definitely an important step, but the revival of the educational curriculum is equally as important to bring the students back from trauma to their regular lives of routine. Endi