In an attempt to bring all children of school-going age to the school system, Kotahimai Rural Municipality has started distributing school uniforms, bags and stationeries to the students enrolled to the Early Childhood Development (ECD)—a pre-school facility in public schools—of all community schools and Madrasas.  

Kotahimai, a remote local unit of Rupandehi district, has 14 community schools, six Madrasas and two community organisations that have been operating the ECD centre. Chandra Bhusan Yadav, chief of the rural municipality, said that the local unit took the decision in order to successfully bring all the children of school-going age to the school system and control the dropout rate.

According to him, many children in Kotahimai are out of school as they cannot afford to buy school supplies due to financial problems. “The guardians will be free of financial burden when the schools provide uniforms, bags and stationeries to the children. We expect the guardians to send their wards to schools without worrying about the cost,” said Yadav.

The rural municipality has allocated Rs 1.4 million for the distribution of uniforms and educational materials to the new students. “A huge number of people in Kotahimai live below the poverty line. They do not have the money to spend on pre-school education for their children. Therefore, we have launched this programme targeting the children of ECD,” said Ganesh Ghimire, administrative officer of the local unit.

Rs 1,200 is spent on buying uniform and school supplies for each student. Around 1,000 children were enrolled in ECD centres in the local body last year. The education committee estimates that around 1,100 children will be enrolled in the ECD centres this year. However, around 200 children of school-going age in Kotahimai are still out of school. Children from Muslim community, impoverished families, children of daily wage earners in various factories and industries are deprived of school education.

The local unit claimed that it would bring all the children of school-going age to the school system this year. “We have been carrying out school enrolment campaign effectively and counselling the guardians,” claimed Ghimire.

The school enrolment drive was formally launched across the country on Monday with an objective to bring all the children of school-going age to the school system.