Most of the earthquake-hit schools in Okhaldhunga are still running their classes from temporary learning centres even after nearly two years since the disaster. 

Radha Niraula, chairperson of Tinpiple Primary School in Taluwa, said the children were facing difficulty attending their classes in the freezing cold of the winter and in the sweltering heat of the summer. 

The devastating earthquake of April 25, 2015, had destroyed 810 classrooms of 267 community schools in the district. 

Manisha Tamang, a teacher at Janakalyan Primary School in Patle VDC, said besides having to cram the students in small classrooms, there was also the problem of sanitation. 

Since there are not toilets, she said, the students as well as the teaching staff were facing hardship.

Like Tinpiple Primary School and Janakalyan Primary School, there are many other schools in Okhaldhunga that are operating from temporary learning centres. The teachers of these schools say they have no idea when or if the new classrooms will be built.

Officials at the District Education Office (DEO) said they cannot start the reconstruction of all earthquake-affected school buildings at once due to lack of funds. 

Khagendra Shrestha, the information officer of the DEO, said the Department of Education had provided classroom rebuilding fund of paltry Rs 50,000 each to only 25 schools this year.

Although the Central Level Project Implementation Unit (CLPIU) has decided to rebuild 27 schools in the district, it will be years before the students of those schools will get to study inside proper classrooms. The CLPIU has only just invited tenders to construct the classrooms of six schools.

The District Level Project Implementation Unit and some social organisations are also in the process of building classrooms for the earthquake-hit schools, but their works have not been as quick, said concerned teachers.