Students of Bheri Basic School at Gara in Ward No. 11 of Bangadkupinde Municipality have been compelled to study under the open sky in this cold weather due to a lack of proper classrooms.

Around eight months ago, a strong wind had blown away the roof of the school building which was made up of galvanized zinc sheets.

“We have been requesting the municipality to repair the school building time and again but to no avail,” said Hemraj Oli, the school’s headmaster. “It’s very cold these days and students have to sit on cold floors in classrooms that have no roof. We are worried about the health of our students.”

According to Oli, many students are missing school, as they have fallen sick due to the cold.

“It’s so cold in the classrooms. We don’t want to come to the school to study anymore,” said Nabin Roka, a fifth grader at the school.

The school stands right beside a road at Khalanga Sallibazaar. Due to a lack of roof, students have to bear through dust and vehicles’ noise as well, headmaster Oli said, and this has created an unfavourable environment for studies.

Currently, there are around 300 students in grade one to grade eight of the school.

“We are on the verge of closing the school, as temperatures have been plummeting in recent days. Sometimes we make bonfires to keep students warm,” Oli said.

The poor infrastructure of the school has also resulted in irregular attendance of its students. Eleven-year-old Mohan Basnet, a fifth grader at the school, says he has started going to school on alternate days.

“The desks and benches are always covered with dew so we have to sit on cold floors. And it’s very dusty and cold in the classroom,” Basnet said.

The school had also requested lawmakers and ministers of the provincial government to provide the necessary budget to repair the school building. But none of them paid heed to the requests, said Durga Bahadur Budha, chairman of the School Management Committee.

Meanwhile, Chakra Rawat, chief at the education section of Bangadkupinde Municipality, claims that the municipal office is preparing to allocate funds for the school’s repairment.

“The office will allocate a fund after estimating the budget for the building’s repairs,” Rawat said.