Thirteen-year-old Bindu Ghimire, who passed her fifth grade exams this year, wants to continue her studies but she has not yet been admitted to highschool. While her friends have already started in sixth grade and are busy with their school work, she is confined to a room at home.

She completed her primary schooling from Jana Jyoti Primary School in Jyotinagar VDC-5, Butwal. She is now trying to study the textbooks given to her by her parents. But without teachers to guide her, she is bewildered, and says, "I don´t know how to even start reading these books."

It´s not that her parents cannot afford to send her to a nearby government school. But she cannot walk, and it is very difficult for her to get her in a wheelchair to that school. The school building, which is a 20 minutes walk from the house, does not have any ramps for wheelchairs.

Bindu´s father Netra Ghimire says, "Though it was difficult, we took her to a primary school, which is near our residence." But now for sixth grade, she has to go to highschool, and the highschool where she could go cannot be reached in a wheelchair and her parents cannot devote all their time fetching her to and from school. "We have to run a shop and it is very difficult to devote all our time to her. Nor can we afford hired help to escort her to school and back," says Netra.

Worried about their daughter´s studies, Netra and his wife came to Kathmandu in hopes of arranging something for her here in the capital city. "We went to a few schools here but none of them was interested in taking in Bindu. Some of them were also expensive," he says. Their two-day survey of disabled-friendly schools came to nothing.

Netra, who has already spent more than Rs.700,000 for the treatment of the disabled child, cannot pay a huge amount for her further schooling. And he sees no possibility of help from the government. "Till today, I have not asked anyone for help to treat and educate my child. But I´d be grateful if someone could give me some useful advice."

Bindu´s case reflects the difficult situation facing disabled children throughout the country. Though the government says it ensures the rights of every child to complete at least a secondary level education, many like Bindu are unable to go to school. Statistics with the government show it has already ensured that 94 percent of Nepali children are admitted to school. The remaining 6 percent includes students like Bindu. Not only the disabled, but children languish in the streets of different towns also come within the remaining 6 percent.

In a different story of school deprivation, Krishna Tamang works on a micro-bus in Kathmandu. Having run away from home in Kavre two years ago, 15-year-old Krishna works from early morning to late evening. He says, "Though my parents wanted me to continue in school, they could hardly afford it. I could not watch their hardship and so ran away from home." Krishna was a fourth grader when he left home. "I know the value of education and want to go back to school but how can I do that without any money," he says.

Asked if he would join school if someone helped him do so, he expressed disbelief that anyone would indeed extend such help. Krishna says, "I don´t know what I will become in future. I now want to learn how to drive but people say I´m too young."

Like Krishna, many children his age have no lofty dreams about becoming educated citizens but just want to become things like bus drivers. Devoid of their basic right to education, Krishna and others in similar situations have no hope of going back to school again.

source: republica, 9 may 2012