The children from the Chepang community said they have to walk for two hours to reach the nearest school at Manthali that teaches up to the third grade. And if children are to join the fourth grade, they have to walk two and a half hours to reach Dungwang Primary School at Shyamrang.

Local people complained that they were unable to educate their children due to lack of school in the village. “Who does not want see their children become literate and able to live a better life?” Hari Bahadur, a local resident, asked.

At an age when the local kids had to be busy studying in their classrooms, they are busy taking care of the livestock, cutting grass and collecting firewood.

The 50 children from the 12 Chepang households in the village do not even have the slightest clue to what a school looks like. “All villagers are eager to educate their children but due to their poor ecoomic conditions they have not been able to send their children to school,” said Rupesh Chepang from the neighbouring village of Santhali. He said the government was responsible for the situation.

District Education Officer Ramakant Sharma said they will find a solution to the problem through alternative means as it is not feasible to establish a school for children in the remote village.