Indian children go to Nepal schools daily for better education

According to a report by The Kathmandu Post, children from India's border villages cross the Nepal border every morning by rickshaw or on foot to reach school. This scene has become common in border districts like Jhapa, Bardiya, and Rautahat because satisfactory education is not available near their homes. This movement reflects the traditional roti-beti relationship and the socio-cultural connection between Nepal and India. Schools in the Koshi, Madhesh, and Lumbini provinces have become regular destinations for primary and secondary education for Indian children.

In the Kachkawal area of Kanchanwal Rural Municipality-5 in Jhapa, children from Dalle village in India's Bihar state travel about two kilometres. About half a dozen children from India study at Devi Basic School and sing the national anthem alongside Nepali students. According to headmaster Jaya Singh Rajbanshi, the school in Dalle village is far and the quality of education is not good, so these children come regularly in electric rickshaws. For these children, studying in Nepal has become more of a necessity than a choice.

About a dozen students from India also come to Buddha Basic School in Khungaru Bhitta, another school in the same ward. These children have to cross the Jhing River that separates the two countries. Headmaster Kushpata Lal Rajbanshi stated that these children come to school even by taking risks and are dedicated to their studies, as there is no language barrier. Koshi Provincial Assembly member Nimsari Rajbanshi said that political relations or disputes over national identity have not been able to stop these children from going to school because their priority is only good studies.

In Bardiya too, Indian families are sending their children across the border because better educational opportunities are available there. Abhishek Kushwa from Balai village in India's Bahraich district studies in class 8 at the Bardiya Academy and Polytechnic Research Centre in Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality. He chose this school due to experienced teachers and excellent education. There are no English medium schools in his village and there is a shortage of technical teachers. Umar Khan from the same village has been studying at the same institution since the last academic year. Dozens of children from this village have studied here, who bring home-cooked food and cover the distance of five kilometres by bicycle, on foot, or by being dropped off by their parents.