Twenty-one earthquake-hit school buildings have been reconstructed and 24 others have been retrofitted with the initiative of the Taplejung branch of Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS). The UK-AID, United Nations Development Programme and Save the Children had lent financial and technical assistance to the project.

Ganesh Adhikari, the district president for NRCS, said the school buildings were reconstructed and retrofitted with a total cost of Rs 50 million. He added that the newly constructed buildings are earthquake resistant.

On 18 September 2011, an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck the country with the epicentre somewhere between Taplejung and the the Indian state of Sikkim, killing nine people and causing extensive damage to houses.

The earthquake had destroyed 568 buildings of various 344 schools in the district. In the wake of the disaster, NRCS had built temporary huts to resume the classes in earthquake-hit schools in the places like Devlinge, Nangkholyang, Sinam, Ambegudin, Khewang, Phakumba, Sanghu, Sadewa, Lingtep, Change, Lingkhim, Angkhop, Thinglabu, Dokhu and Phungling.

Adhikari said the reconstruction and retrofitting works, which began from 2012, completed this year.   NRCS assisted in the reconstruction of the schools that were worst hit by the earthquake. Schools buildings that did not have serious damage were repaired with the budget provided by the government through the District Education Office.