Bikas Tiruwa was unhappy as his parents shifted him to Badimalika Secondary School in Raskot Rural Municipality from a Kohalpur-based private school two years ago. Having studied in an English medium school from playgroup to grade seven, he doubted whether community school could provide the same quality of education.

“I thought quality education was not possible in a community school,” he said. “But I was mistaken. The school imparts quality education now.”

Earlier, at the private school, Bikas’s father Kuchanga had to pay around Rs 120,000 annually for his son’s education. He had to manage the amounts from his meager income from agriculture and daily wage labour. Now, Kuchanga feels he is relieved of the financial burden, and his son can get quality education free of cost in his own village.

“My son is doing well in his studies now. The teachers are well experienced. They guide the students in both Nepal and English. This makes learning easier for students,” said Kuchanga. He is hopeful that his son will get a good result in the upcoming Secondary Education Examination (SEE).

Badimalika Secondary School, established in 1975, achieved the best results in last year’s SEE and is determined to maintain its performance.

Tularaj Upadhyay of Mathisyuna in ward 4 of Raskot enrolled his daughter Radha in grade 9 at Badimalika Secondary School this academic session. She studied in a Surkhet-based private school up to grade 8. “I took my daughter to Surkhet for quality education. I had to pay Rs84,000 for a year at the English-medium school there. But now as the local school in our own village started teaching in English, I decided to enroll her in the local school,” said Tularaj. “I don’t need to take loans or send children to private schools anymore. The community school in our village offers quality education.”

Kuchanga and Tularaj are among many parents in Raskot who have enrolled their children in Badimalika Secondary School in recent years because of its improved quality of education. The school has seen a marked increase in enrollment after it improved its institutional capacity.

“The school management held discussions with guardians, local government and partner organisations a few years ago after the education standards declined. We prepared a work plan to address the problem,” said Pushpa Raj Baral, principal of Badimalika Secondary School. According to him, the school started teaching in English medium as per the request of the guardians. “As a result, villagers, who had enrolled their children in private schools are now returning them to the community school,” said Baral.

Currently, 849 students–407 boys and 442 girls–study at Badimalika Secondary School, from child development center to grade 12. “Of them, 222 students were transferred from private schools,” said Baral.

Badimalika Secondary School is the oldest secondary school in Kalikot, a remote hill district of Karnali Province. The community school has a modern science laboratory and computer lab, library, playground and spacious classrooms. “We have concrete school buildings and access to clean drinking water, and toilets. Our school focuses on imparting quality education and enhancing co-curricular and extra-curricular activities,” said Dipraj Shahi, chairman of the school management committee.

The school also provides special care for girl students. It distributes sanitary pads free of cost and has a dedicated room for menstruating girls to rest and maintain hygiene. “We don’t worry about attending school even during menstruation. We use the dedicated room to access sanitary pads and take rest,” said Shanti Shahi, a ninth grader.