Nepal one year on: slow progress leaves huge numbers of children still out of school

A Nepalese schoolboy sits among the rubble of a destroyed school in Bhaktapor听Picture: A World at School/Claire Wilkinson

When the massive earthquake rocked Nepal one year ago today, the immediate response was search and rescue 国产视频� digging through the rubble for survivors.

In the days that followed, the urgent humanitarian need for the 2.8 million people affected was food, water, shelter and medicine. But very soon thoughts turned to getting children back into school as quickly as possible.

Why? Because education gives children a safe place to play and learn, where they can start to recover from the trauma.

It protects them from the threats of child labour, early marriage and trafficking 国产视频� a particular problem in Nepal 国产视频� that can ensnare out-of-school children. And it gives them a sense of normality when all around is chaos.

国产视频淐hildren are desparate to be in school,国产视频� said Claire Wilkinson, senior communications manager for 国产视频, the children国产视频檚 charity behind A World at School.

She went to Nepal recently to see what life is like now for children and to help in the making of an amazing virtual reality film about their plight, which was viewed 80,000 times in the first four days after being published. Watch the film below. And find out how to get the best experience while viewing this 360-degree video.

Even where there is still a school standing or a temporary school, Claire explained: 国产视频淪ome are walking long distances, six hours a day, to get to a school. Because there are fewer schools, children are travelling even longer distances in unstable landslide-prone areas.听

国产视频淢any are scared to take these journeys and so do not return to school. But others show absolute determination because they want to have the chance to rebuild their own lives and have a better future.国产视频澨�

The earthquake immediately left almost 1.4 million children out of school 国产视频� 700,000 of them girls vulnerable to trafficking, early marriage of being forced into domestic work.

Several hundred thousand have been in temporary learning centres or have been given education materials 国产视频� but a huge number remain out of school. There are no current official figures but it could be as high as one million.

WHAT HAPPENED TO NEPAL国产视频橲 SCHOOLS?

On April 25, 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated Nepal 国产视频� killing almost 9000 people, destroying or damaging more than 30,000 classrooms.

It was followed by a second huge quake on May 12 that caused more damage and added to the havoc in the lives of children and their families.

Entire streets, like this one in听Bhaktapor,听were destroyed by the earthquake Picture: AWAS/Claire Wilkinson

In the wake of the disaster, $4 billion in aid was raised. An A World at School 国产视频渟corecard国产视频� on education in emergencies last month revealed that less than 6% of that was earmarked for education.

Worse still, just 47% of the education target was realised and only 31% of children were actually reached by appeal funds.

So far, no schools have been rebuilt or repaired by the government. The Agence France-Press news agency reported: 国产视频淎fter months of bickering, the government finally established a National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) in December to oversee rebuilding and distribute funds.

国产视频淯ntil then, rebuilding had effectively been put on hold because the government had instructed people to follow specific quake-resistant designs to qualify for aid 国产视频� but had not released the blueprints.

国产视频淓ven aid organisations that had started to rebuild schools and health facilities were told to pause their efforts until the new body could review them, a process that took months.国产视频�

Some of those aid organisations last week called for rebuilding efforts to be speeded up, with reconstruction just starting in many areas and three million people living in temporary shelters with tarpaulin roofs.

A temporary classroom built from bamboo in the grounds of a damaged school in Kathmandu听Picture: AWAS/Claire Wilkinson

One of them was Save The Children, which said: 国产视频淎 large number of schools not only have to be rebuilt, but they have to be built back better and safer than previous models.国产视频�

The charity Plan International agrees with that sentiment.听Mattias Bryneson, Country Director for Plan International Nepal, said: 国产视频淏uilding schools and repairing the thousands of classrooms that were destroyed is central to children国产视频檚 development, the health of their communities, and Nepal国产视频檚 ability to move forward.国产视频�

WHAT HAS BEEN THE EFFECT ON CHILDREN?

Muna Tamang, who moved from her home in mountainous Sindhupalchowk District to Kathmandu before the earthquake, told how about 80 girls have disappeared from the area.

The 16-year-old said: 国产视频淢any girls went missing from the village after the earthquake. They must have been lured by traffickers.国产视频�

Lakpi, 16, is from the Sindhupalchouk district,听one of the areas worst affected by the first earthquake.

Children are delighted to be back at school, like this one in Kathmandu听Picture: WAS/Claire Wilkinson

She said: 国产视频淚 was very sad when I saw the school destroyed. I had been coming for three years. I was worried about my future. I had not felt that sadness before.国产视频�

Now she walks past dangerous landslides each day to get to a temporary school housed in tents.

Sharmila, a 12-year-old girl with visual impairment, has been living in a tent with 11 other girls in Tupche village, 80 miles from the capital Kathmandu.

She goes to a boarding school which was destroyed, along with the children国产视频檚 home.

Sharmila told the United Nations children国产视频檚 agency UNICEF: 国产视频淭hings have changed a lot but we all need to get along and live together 国产视频� and we need to keep learning.

国产视频淭hat is the advice I get from my teacher.国产视频�

Children make a dangerous river crossing in Dhading district Picture AWAS/Lauren Ciell

SO WHAT国产视频橲 BEEN DONE SO FAR?

Plan International has built 310 temporary schools for 21,000 children in communities where schools were destroyed.

It intends to build 20 new schools and repair 1600 other classrooms 国产视频� these will be 国产视频渟afe schools,国产视频� built with disaster-resistant construction and reinforced with emergency preparedness training for students and teachers.

Nepal国产视频檚 government had declared a moratorium on construction until new national standards for building and construction are developed.

Mr Bryneson added: 国产视频淧lan International is ready to start construction on these new safe schools. We just need the go-ahead. A year is too long for children to be spending in temporary classrooms made of bamboo and tarpaulins.国产视频�

Claire from 国产视频 said: 国产视频淭hey are OK as a very temporary solution 国产视频� but not long-term. Schools had to close during the rainy season and on a windy day in the mountains they close because the tent structures are unable to cope.国产视频�

Temporary schools or Temporary Learning Centres (TLCs) have provided education for thousands of children since the earthquakes.

A temporary learning centre in place of a destroyed school in the mountainous area of Sindhupalchok Picture AWAS/Lauren Ciell

Save the Children and its partners constructed 586 TLCs for 193,000 students in nine of the worst affected districts.

The charity also supplied education materials, teaching-learning kits and back to school bags.

With funds from UNICEF,听Finn Church Aid (FCA)听has constructed TLCs for nearly 20,000 students. It will also听repair partially damaged but structurally safe school buildings and tear down unsafe ones.

FCA Nepal Country Manager Lila Bashyal said:听国产视频淔CA continues to provide psychosocial support because even after one year of the massive earthquake, due to continued aftershocks, teachers report that earthquake survivor children are still traumatised with high levels of psychological and academic distress.国产视频�

Among other charities working on the ground is SOS Children国产视频檚 Villages, which has provided 9000 students with resources including uniforms and school supplies.听

Boys wait for their friends to cross a river on their way to school in Dhading district Picture: AWAS/Claire Wilkinson

WHAT MORE CAN BEING DONE TO HELP IN EMERGENCIES LIKE NEPAL?

Last year, more than 80 million children around the world had their education disrupted by emergencies 国产视频� that includes conflicts, natural disasters and health cises such as the Ebola outbreak. Of those, 37 million were forced out of school completely.

While the funding needed for education in emergencies has risen 21% since 2000, donor funding has fallen by 41%. In 2015, less than 2% of all humanitarian aid went to education.

A World at School and its supporters have been leading the way in calling for a special mechanism to be set up to deal with funding education in emergencies.

The platform will be launched at the first World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey next month. To ensure this is a serious turning point, it must commit to providing at least $2 billion in funding, reaching 20 million children annually within the first five years, and with a plan to reach all children by 2030.

You can read more about A World at School国产视频檚 report on education in emergencies titled Don国产视频檛 Leave Them Out.

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