Rabin Roka, 16, walks around three hours to reach his school and as much time to return home. A six-hour walk daily has taken a toll on his studies, he says.

“We are worn out completely by the time we reach school,” said Roka, a ninth grader from Chhepane in Pyuthan Municipality-1 who studies at Mahendra Secondary School in Khalanga. “I can neither study well at school nor be able to do homework at home.”

The students who walk such a long way often carry torchlights to return home during the short days in winter. “I want to do homework and study at home,” Roka added. “My academic performance is not satisfactory as I cannot study because I am tired.”

There are nearly 100 students like Roka who are compelled to walk for hours to and from school, according to Pitambar Paudel, the headmaster at Mahendra Secondary School.

The reason behind this is that there is no secondary school nearby Chhepane and Bukeni of Pyuthan Municipality; Sarangkot, Ramche, Rithekharka, Rampani, Jorchaur and Girichaur of neighbouring Mallarani Rural Municipality; and Sinduredanda of Eirawati Rural Municipality.

Most of the students at Mahendra Secondary School are from rural areas and they cannot stay at Khalanga, the district headquarters, due to financial constraints.

The school is also unable to provide any facilities to the children from the far-flung settlements, Paudel said. “We don’t have the required physical infrastructure to run a hostel,” he said. “Provision of school buses will resolve the problem but the school does not have resources for it.”

Paudel added that even the students who are doing well in their studies are facing problems because they have to walk such a long distance. “Students cannot concentrate on their studies due to fatigue and tiredness,” Paudel said. “The students are facing problems due to the lack of a good road system in the scattered small settlements.”

Milan Sunar, a student from Sarangkot in Mallarani Rural Municipality-5 who is studying in class 10, said that he starts walking from 7am to reach his school at 10am.

“When I reach school, I fall asleep because of fatigue,” Sunar said. “I feel tired the whole day and cannot function well.”

The challenges get much harder during the rainy season. The students have to risk their lives to wade across the flooded streams in monsoon since there is no bridge over the Jhakristhan stream. Many students cannot even go to school due to floods in the rainy season.

The school administration complains that this is affecting the institution’s overall academic achievement. “The school dropout is also very high,” said Paudel, the headmaster.