The recent news of students in Karnali returning to the quake-damaged schools a year after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Jajarkot and Rukum West districts is appalling. After the temporary structures they were putting up in were worn down by wind and rain, students in schools like Janapriya Basic School and Shankar Bhawan Secondary School in Rukum West and Jajarkot district, respectively, have been compelled to sit in classrooms with gaping cracks. Instead of being a secure learning space, classrooms in quake-damaged schools have turned into places where students are in perpetual fear for their safety. Last week, the Karnali province government finally initiated the reconstruction of damaged buildings of community schools and health institutions. The decision has already come too late. The students’ lives cannot be endangered while waiting for the rebuilding to be completed.

On November 3 last year, the earthquake damaged several community schools, health institutions and homes in Jajarkot, Rukum West, and Salyan districts. Many displaced families still await the promised funds under fragile, temporary huts. Some victims had to take loans even to build temporary shelters as the government’s promise of providing Rs50,000 per household for such shelters has failed to materialise.

This delay in relief has claimed over three dozen lives, mainly of the elderly and children in Jajarkot and Rukum West. Children’s education in these areas was hit as well: 143 schools in Jajarkot and 192 schools in Rukum West were completely destroyed in the earthquake, according to the Social Development Ministry in Karnali. The quake partially damaged 296 school buildings in Jajarkot, 509 in Rukum West and 42 in Salyan, forcing hundreds of students to continue their education in temporary structures while they are exposed to wind, rain and cold.

Such conditions only worsen the situation in a province that is barely managing to attract students to schools. According to the Ministry of Social Development, Karnali, there are fewer than 10 students each in 137 community schools in the province. The Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) 2022-23 reports that Karnali has a literacy rate of 76.6 percent, one of the lowest of the seven provinces. Due to the unavailability of teachers and the absence of quality education, many students have lost faith in local schools. Absenteeism is rampant, and many young men migrate to India for work rather than get educated.

The provincial Ministry of Physical Infrastructures and Urban Development has allocated Rs500 million in the current fiscal year to reconstruct quake-damaged public buildings, including community schools and health institutions. The ministry aims to complete the reconstruction in the current fiscal year, but just monetary allocation won’t ensure results. The project recommendation committees in earthquake-affected districts had identified damaged school and health institution buildings and submitted their reports. The reconstruction could not proceed until the Provincial Council of Ministers had approved the Reconstruction of Earthquake-Damaged School and Health Institution Programme (Operation and Management) Guidelines-2024. The approval was given only last month.