Education a fundamental right for everyone

Unfortunately, this does not yet apply to all children in Nepal. Despite eight years of compulsory schooling, not all Nepalese children regularly attend school. Especially in rural areas, where the way to school often takes more than an hour one way and children are needed as labourers in agriculture, compulsory schooling is sometimes neglected. Many rural schools are also in a miserable state of repair! In the district of Sindhupalchok, about 80 km northeast of Kathmandu, we have been able to create high-quality buildings and significantly shorten some school routes. This has often made it noticeably easier for pupils and parents to attend school. Since 1995, we have built a total of 20 additional schools for around 4,500 boys and girls in this district, starting with the school in Kadambas. Subsequently, schools were also built in Kathmandu and in the metropolitan area, in the south of the country (Terrai), in the far west (Humla) and also in Dolpo, not far from the border with Tibet. As of 2024, there are a total of 30 schools for around 10,000 children. These include the school for the blind in Chautara, which is the first of its kind in the entire district of Sindhupalchok, as well as a class for disabled children in Sangachok.

However, many schools, including the above-mentioned school for the blind, were completely destroyed or severely damaged by the devastating earthquake on 25 April 2015. A total of 17 schools were affected. Reconstruction could not begin until spring 2016, after the government officially gave the go-ahead. All of our destroyed and damaged schools were rebuilt within three years. The most striking external feature is the redesign of the exterior from blue and white to yellow and red, which corresponds to the new government guidelines. This was only possible thanks to the enormous amount of donations and the tireless work of our two coordinators, Sunil Shresta and Shyam Pandit, on the ground.