The Female Head teachers of Sindhuli

UNICEF Nepal
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read

The female head teachers in communities around Kapilakot in Sindhuli have been a source of strength and support for each other, before as well as after the earthquake.

Mina Thapa, Lamidamar Primary

After 3-and-a-half hours on a dirt road from Sindhuli district’s headquarter town of Sindhuli Bazaar we reach the communities of Kapilakot. This area is marked by the presence of the Marin river, which without a bridge, poses tremendous difficulties for the people of Kapilakot to travel. During winters, when the water is low, this is less of a problem. But during monsoons the river swells to gigantic proportions, and almost every year proves fatal for some trying to cross it.

Marin River

The Marin river is therefore one of the most challenging aspects of their jobs for the many school teachers in the area, as they go to and from their homes and schools.

Interestingly many communities here have nominated female head teachers to run their schools, chosen as such for their “reliability”, as one community member in Kalpabriksha put it.

For head teacher like Pushpa Kumari Devkota from Dhamile, the river interjects a 45-minute walk to her school in Sahan. Many times during monsoon she’s had to make the decision to stay back at the school because it rained throughout the day causing flash-floods. Sometimes though, like when her son was just born, it wasn’t even an option. During these times her husband comes over to assist her, sometimes she has to get help from an expert from the village. And when both are not available, she has taken chances on her life to get home.

Pushpa Kumari Devkota from Dhamile

Similarly, head teacher of Shree Lower Secondary School in Chanaute, Anita Majhi walks about one-and-half hours every day from her home to get to her school. She says, apart from the river, the extreme heat and humidity of the summers is a trial in itself.

Anita Majhi, Shree Lower Secondary School in Chanaute

When the earthquakes struck Nepal in 2015, the resulting chaos and destruction of their school buildings added onto the challenge for the head teachers.

Rangarani Bomjan, Shree Prangbo Samajkalyan Primary, Morange, Jalayo

Rangarani Bomjan of Shree Prangbo Samajkalyan Primary in Jalayo recalls how extremely tough it was for her to cramp her 54 students in one small tent and conduct classes. Their one school building had sustained great damage and was unusable. She was quite relieved therefore to have two Transitional Learning Centers constructed for her school. Classes have resumed to normal now.

Jyotimaya Ghising, Shree Jana Primarya, Mathauli

Jyotimaya Ghising also had a tough time after the quake. The attendance in her school suffered tremndously as they had to resort to teaching in open grounds. She had to close her school down during most of monsoon.

Now she says the TLC buildings are even better than the old structures as they provide for a lot more light and room. She is also happy to see the new kits and books distributed in her school and says that the kids are much more enthusiastic to come to school.

The female head teachers in Sindhuli have been a source of strength and support for each other as they share in professional and personal difficulties with each other on a regular basis. After earthquake, they say, being part of a group was invaluable as they juggled home and office responsibilities in a time of great upheaval. All the teachers now have new Transitional Learning Centers for their schools, as per the number of their students, and are thankful to the UNICEF- European Union project “Restoring Education”.

“We don’t know how long it might have been that we would have to teach in open environments, or with the fear of the old buildings collapsing, if not for the TLCs,” Devkota concludes.

UNICEF Nepal

Written by

Official account of UNICEF in Nepal. More than four decades of partnership in Nepal.

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