SHAMBHUNATH, OCTOBER 2Nine-year-old Satish Sada of the Musahar settlement in Shambhunath Municipality in Saptari district did not go to school.

Although the school nearby is at a distance of about 500 metres from his home, he would spend time playing at home, but did not go to school.

Now, he has started going to school with textbooks and exercise books. Boy murdered over love affair in Saptari Govt, school teachers ink 7-point agreement, teachers getting back to work Nowadays, the routine of 11-year-old Ashok Sada from the same village has also changed.

He is enrolled in Buddhilal Munar Secondary School near his home.

Not only Satish and Ashok, children of the Harawacharawa and Musahar communities, that are extremely backward, are lately getting attracted to education.Until a few years ago, only a very small number of Musahar children would go to school. These days the number of Musahar children going to school has shot up.

The municipality is predominantly populated by the Harawacharawa and Musahar communities.

The Musahar children of Saptari's Shambhunath Municipality-7, 2, 3 and 5 have started going to school regularly.The number of school-going age Dalit children is increasing following free child tuition classes as part of the educational campaign launched by the Sripurraj Community Development Centre targeting the children of the Harawacharawa families in the municipality.

Three years ago, the number of school-going age children from the Harawacharawa and Musahar communities was just 12.The number has now shot up to over 300 after the SCDC launched awareness campaign, organised parents meetings and conducted free child classes under the project of 'Empowerment of Harawacharawa through Social Mobilisation and Education' with assistance from 'The Freedom Fund', an international non-profit organisation, said Arjun Sada of the Harawacharawa Shambhunath Town Children Club.Until a few years ago, the children of these communities would spend their days in sports rather than studying.

But they are gradually getting attracted to reading and writing following free child classes."Until a few years ago, only a small number of children from the Harawacharawa and Musahar communities would attend classes.

Now their number is increasing," he said.Parents in the communities were reluctant to send their children to school maybe because they lacked awareness of the importance of education, said Arahuliya Sada of Mohanpur, adding, "But now the children of the Musahar have started going to school.

There is awareness among parents that their children should get an education."Recalling that although he wanted to study, his parents got him married in his childhood, he said, "Now, that situation is slowly disappearing." The parents of the Harawacharawa and Musahar families are also gradually becoming responsible.Now, more than 200 children from these communities attend free child classes launched in the municipality, said Lalu Prasad Ram, programme coordinator of the SCDC.A version of this article appears in the print on October 3, 2023, of The Himalayan Times .

This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com