“I have been posted to the most remote villages in Nepal as a teacher. For the last 27 years, I have taught these children who come from deprived communities with very little awareness about the importance of education. The only priority seems to be to somehow manage a meal a day. When the government introduced school allowance of RS 400/month, the parents started sending the children to school, not because they wanted their children to learn but because they wanted to cash in the money. Not their fault. You see, when these communities are hidden from the so called developed cities and neglected for years the change will be very slow. And RS 400 is a lot for these poor families. Since the children have very little interaction to the outside world they are afraid of the teachers. Many of them lack basic stationaries like notebooks and pencils. And these students you see are not regulars. They just come at will. I will see a pupil and then he will disappear for weeks at end. The parents and the community has not been able to recognize the importance of education in these parts. Come a festival and the school will be empty. Last Gai Jatra, we came but no students. Last Bandh we were here but no one showed up.” (Diwakar Gautam, Bamgha 1, Rimuwa, Gulmi)