In a fairly remote part of Nepal but within three hours drive of Pokhara is Purnamrit Secondary School. Set up on a hill just above the town of Waling, it looks out across the paddy fields towards the large Kali Gandaki river. The hills stretch into the distance beyond. In Nepal many schools are fee-paying but Purnamrit Secondary School is free.

The classrooms are clean but simple. Some have walls made from blocks of cement, some walls are mud. In the monsoon season the heavy rain often seeps through into the classroom. The rooves are made of corrugated iron sheets and the open windows without glass allow a little light into the room. There is no electricity in the school and no telephone. Simple wooden benches sit awkwardly on the unlevelled floor with up to ten rows on each side, all squashed together.

It tends to be the very poor families, those who can not afford fees, who send their children to this school. About 500 hundred boys and girls walk into school each day from many miles around. There are few schools in Nepal, so some will walk huge distances. Such is the value placed on education. Unbelievable as it may seem, I spoke to many pupils who walked up and down the hills and valleys for two hours to reach school. A few even walked for three hours each way, crossing seven rivers in flood.

School starts late (at 10 am) but the day starts early with morning chores at home. Everyone in the family helps out and there may be a lot of work to do. Water and firewood have to be fetched and grass collected for the animals. There is also farming work to be done – 99% of people in Nepal grow their own food. Not surprisingly, many children are tired before they even reach school.

The school day starts with an outdoor morning assembly under the Nepalese flag. The national anthem is sung and notices read out. Lessons start and all pupils are taught in the same classroom. There are few resources and, although there are some text books in Nepali, they have few illustrations.

  

© Theale Green School 2000