After a little over a three years since the earthquake struck and caused major damages to the oldest school in the country, Durbar High School, the oldest high school in the country, has been demolished.
Condemned for the entire time since the earthquake, the students have been studying under temporary structures. The reconstruction is slated to take 18 months. The article also states that the children will continue their education at a Temporary Learning Center (TLC) for another two years. Even if the structure is completed in the stipulated time, which I doubt it will, by that time the students’ education at temporary centers would have lasted over five years!
16000 school were damaged by the earthquake, almost half of the schools in the country! 5000 of those were destroyed. How many students in the country are in the same boat as Durbar High School? At least DHS is being rebuilt. According to this article published in February 2017, and I quote, “The Ministry of Education (MoE) has no clue how the remaining schools—4,067 (51. 5 percent of the total destroyed)—will be reconstructed.”
A more recent report published in the ReliefWeb on April 9, 2018 says, and I quote, “reconstruction of school buildings, health institutions and government offices, among other facilities, seems to be going at a slow pace with the rebuilding process yet to start for significant numbers of such properties.” Yet another recent report by the same publication says, “Hundreds of thousands of children have been given education and protection support – but lack of funds means many schools still have to be repaired or replaced.”
How many children around the country have been suffering and will continue to suffering the same fate as the Durbar High School students? And for how much longer?
What do you think?
March 27, 2021 Update
So, according to this article in The Kathmandu Post, the reconstruction of the school was completed and inaugurated on October 21, 2020. And according to this article also in The Kathmandu Post, published on March 16, 2021, the school was struggling already!
I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to “embellished [the toilets] with auto-flush systems” but they did! Of course, the predictable happened. Along with the toilets, the whole school “reeks of mismanagement” reports the article.
References
The Himalayan Times (April 19, 2017). Durbar High School awaits reconstruction.
The Himalayan Times (July 3, 2018). Reconstruction of Durbar High School begins.
The Kathmandu Post (May 27, 2018). Class in the past.
The Kathmandu Post (Feb. 17, 2017). Post-Quake Reconstruction: Education of thousands of students in jeopardy.
ReliefWeb (April 9, 2018). Delays in rebuilding school, health facilities.
ReliefWeb (April 25, 2018). Successes and failures as Nepal rebuilds school system three years after earthquake.
