EDUCATION NEWS IN NEPAL
Schools in Bajhang’s Saipal Rural Municipality Closed for a Month Due to Yarsa Collection
Date: May 15, 2023
Introduction:
Schools in Saipal rural municipality of Bajhang have been closed for a month due to school-going children and their parents going to the lake to collect yarsa.
Schools in the northern region of Bajhang, including Kanda Secondary School and Dhalaun Secondary School, have been closed for a month due to most students going to the lake to collect yarsa. Jhalak Dhami, assistant principal of Dhalaun Secondary School, said that nobody comes to the school as everyone is busy collecting yarsa. It has been announced that these schools will remain closed until June 15.
The closure of the schools is not a new phenomenon in Bajhang’s northern region, as most schools in Kanda, Surma, Chhabispathibhera, Talkot, Durgathali, and Masta rural municipalities, as well as Bungal municipality, are closed to allow students to collect yarsa.
Man Bahadur Bohara, chairperson of Saipal rural municipality, said that although remote schools in the northern region are closed for three months every year, this year, the municipality has decided to give a month’s holiday instead of the usual winter holiday. Bohara said that students who went to the lake to collect yarsa after enrolling in the school till April 15 would return only in June.
Teachers claim that in previous years, students did not attend school for three months due to incomplete course teaching, resulting in lower grades in the examination. Children between the ages of 10 and senior citizens in the age group of 60 years go to the lake to collect yarsa, and parents take their children to the lake to pick yarsa during the yarsa collection period.
Conclusion: Due to poor financial conditions, many school-going children collect yarsa and earn money, which has led to schools’ closure in the northern region of Bajhang. The revenue generated from yarsa collectors in Saipal rural municipality has reached Rs 709,000 since the forest was opened for yarsa collection on April 1.
Attribution: Data provided by Saipal rural municipality and quotes from Jhalak Dhami and Man Bahadur Bohara.
#Bajhang, #Saipal Rural Municipality, #school closure, #yarsa collection
CTA: Stay tuned for more updates on the yarsa collection in Bajhang’s northern region.
