When Lokendra Bohara left school in the ninth grade at the age of 13 and went to India for work, he believed formal education was no longer for him. A decade later, the 23-year-old from ward 4 of Mangalsen Municipality in Achham district, has passed seven exams conducted by the Public Service Commission (PSC) in a year. He now works as a health assistant at the Kalikot District Hospital.

Bohara comes from a modest family with limited opportunities. He studied up to grade 6 at Radha Secondary School in his own ward and up to grade 9 at Shodasha Secondary School in ward 5 of Mangalsen before quitting school. “I had completely lost interest in studies. I sat at the back of the classroom and nothing motivated me,” he recalled. With no desire to continue, he left for India at 13, relying on his elder brother who was already working there.

In Pune, he found work cleaning floors in a bookshop, earning 6,000 Indian rupees a month (NRs 9,600). “I suffered a lot. I soon began regretting leaving school, but I never thought of returning to study,” he said.

The turning point came when his mother and brother insisted that he return home and continue his education. His elder brother Arjun Bohara, a health assistant posted in Mahottari district at the time, did not want his younger sibling to spend his life in low-paid labour. “I couldn’t bear to see him working like that at such a young age,” Arjun said. “We wanted him to come back and study so he could build a life in Nepal.”

Lokendra finally returned and completed his Secondary Education Exam (SEE) in 2019 from Tribhuvan Secondary School at Gaushala in Mahottari. Due to the pandemic, grades were awarded through internal evaluation. He then enrolled in the three-year health assistant course in Dhangadhi, encouraged and closely supervised by his brother. “I was weak in Maths and English, so I studied under my brother’s guidance. Had he not pushed me, I would still be working in India,” Lokendra said. “Studying, which I once feared, has now become something I enjoy.”

After completing his exams, he went home to visit family and returned to Kathmandu determined not to return again without earning a government position. He stayed in a hostel and began preparing for the licensing and PSC exams. In May 2024, he passed his health assistant licence on the first attempt. He immersed himself in exam preparation, avoiding social media, celebrations and even festivals.

“I was never among the top students, so I felt I needed to work harder than everyone else,” he said. He spent long hours preparing in libraries such as the Kaiser Library and Nepal Library, filling his room with handwritten notes pasted on the walls.

In January 2024, Lokendra sat for the Gandaki Province auxiliary health worker exam, his first PSC attempt, and passed. Over the next few months, he cleared six more exams, including Koshi Province health assistant, Gandaki Province health assistant, Koshi Province auxiliary health worker and the national health assistant examination. He was also selected for a technical post in Nepal Police but chose not to attend the interview.

Lokendra joined Kalikot District Hospital after earning selection in Karnali Province. He declined postings elsewhere because he preferred working closer to his home region. “I never expected to be selected everywhere I applied. With consistency and confidence, Public Service exams are not impossible,” he said.

For his brother Arjun, Lokendra’s achievements are deeply emotional. Their father died of cardiac arrest while Arjun was working in India, leaving the family devastated. “Our happiness was lost in India,” Arjun said. “Seeing my brother earn a government job and return dignity to the family has fulfilled my and my mother’s dream.”