Student Walking from Holding Center to Exam Venue Voices Concerns Over Education Disruption

Summary: After bulldozers began operating in the Sukumbasi settlement, a 17-year-old student complained about the impact on her studies even while she was taking exams. Her family took a loan to pay the 50,000 rupees college admission fee and faces expenses totaling three lakh rupees, causing her worry about continuing her education. Although the government arranged temporary shelter, it has not ensured permanent housing or the right to education. April 26, Kathmandu.

“I don’t know whether I should continue college or not,” said a 17-year-old student from the Sukumbasi settlement in Kathmandu’s Shantinagar-Gairigaun area, who arrived Sunday at the holding center inside Dashrath Rangashala in Tripureshwor. She was born in the Sukumbasi settlement and is currently taking her final exams for the first year of her Bachelor’s in Computer Applications (BCA). Bulldozers demolished homes in the settlement during the exam period.

“It’s the final exam. I came here after finishing the exam. I have written it too. But since yesterday, I have been unable to continue studying,” she explained, describing how the bulldozers affected her home and disrupted her studies. When she arrived at the holding center, she was still carrying her bag and holding hands with her 9-year-old brother. Despite needing to prepare for her exams in those conditions, both her living and study environments were unsettled.

Security personnel provided food to her on Sunday evening at the stadium, but she was not ready to eat. Her father managed to find a room to store their belongings; however, the four-member family could not live there due to space constraints. The lack of shelter compounded their worries about her education. “I have to study, but I don’t know how,” she said tearfully. “My parents have struggled hard to educate me.” Her father works as a painter, while her mother works as a domestic worker and sometimes cleans streets. “How will my parents afford my education now?” she asked.

“The entire college costs 300,000 rupees, so how will we pay?” she added. The family took loans to support her education. “Initially, we had to pay 50,000 rupees for admission, which we collected through a loan,” she said. “Originally, the fee was 30,000 rupees, but the college asked for 50,000, so we borrowed money to pay it.” Ranked second in her internal college exams, she is anxious about her final exam results. “I am unsure where to go or what to do. My parents have no money. How will I continue my studies?”

Other children of school-going age were also in the holding center, some playing and others gathering their belongings as it started to rain. While their homes of many decades were destroyed, parents are increasingly concerned about how to continue their children’s education.

The new academic session is about to start. Enrollment begins April 28, with classes commencing on May 4. With no stable place to live or study, parents remain uncertain where to enroll their children. Temporary housing has been arranged at the Radhaswami Satsang Vyas Ashram in Kirtipur for landless individuals from Thapathali and Shantinagar-Gairigaun areas. However, the government has not provided permanent housing solutions.

A woman living in the temporary shelter expressed concern about her child’s education. She does not know where to enroll her son, who is in grade five. “We do not even have a fixed address. The child needs to be enrolled in school, but we don’t know what will happen in a new place,” she said.

Article 31 of the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to basic education and mandates free and compulsory education. However, parents in the Sukumbasi settlement fear their children may be deprived of education. The Constitution also grants legal rights to free higher education for disabled and economically disadvantaged citizens, but these constitutional rights remain unfulfilled for the poor families of the settlement.