Children from marginalized communities in Siraha excited for school

Over 150 students from Dalit and Harawacharawa communities in four settlements in Siraha district who otherwise were tepid to go to school are eager to pursue learning activities lately, thanks to the creative initiative and positive intervention from a local organization and a US-based charity.

Dalit Jana Kalyan Youth Club, in financial assistance from the Freedom Fund, has been providing stationery materials, uniform, bags among others to them since 2021.

Radhana Kumari Saday, a 4th grader at Tenuwapati Basic School at Titatar, shared that earlier she was not so excited about studying, but she studies hard these days.

Her father Bharoshi and mother Nilamdevi are amazed with the positive changes in their daughter, from her growing interest in studies to regularity in her attendance in school.

Similarly, 6th grader Nikhalesh Kumar Saday and Bishnu Kumar Saday also want to go to school regularly. Club’s chairperson Umesh Kumar Bishankhe shared that the students from marginalized communities were not keen to study given the deplorable economic condition of their families.

Lack of awareness about education has remained another reason failing to draw students from these communities to school.
Bishanke gushed that they could bring those students who dropped out in the middle of their studies and who were out of access of schools under the ambit of education.

The Club also provides additional tuition classes to the students needing extra tuition for free of cost and enlightens their parents on the importance of education.

It aims to devise strategy seeking to retain Dalit students in the school, conduct research on why they were lagging behind in academic performance among others to bring as many as children of school going age to school, said Bishankhe.

The Club also aspires to extend its support to the children from other disadvantaged groups. Dalit students are gradually becoming interested in going school and learning new knowledge with each passing days.

Given the positive changes brought by the Club’s initiative in the lives of Dalit students, Aaurahi rural municipality-4 ward chairperson Surendra Prasad Yadav said that the local level had also allocated Rs 200,000 for the Club’s project to give continuity to the project that will end in 2024.