15 per cent of Dalit children deprived of education

Fifteen per cent Dalit children from Simikot Rural Municipality, also the district headquarters of Humla, don’t have access to schools. According to the recent data released by the Poor and Neglected Welfare Program with the support of the Rural Municipality, many Dalit children are deprived of education. Although the government has launched various programs to send all school-age children compulsorily to school, 15 percent (106) out of 692 children in Simikot are out of school.

According to Parbat Sunar, chairperson of the Poor and Neglected Welfare Program, 27 children are out of reach of schools in Simikot, which has eight wards.

According to the available statistics, 26 children in Ward No.2, 17 in Ward No.7, 12 in Ward No.4, 10 in Ward No.8, 8 in Ward No.5 and 6 in Ward No. 3 are out of school. There are 136 students from Dalit community studying in child development centers, 248 in primary level, 172 in secondary level and 30 in technical education in Simkot village municipality.

In all the eight wards of Simikot, the number of dalits who have passed the post-graduate level is zero. None of the Dalit community with a population of 1,775 has done postgraduate studies. It has been found that the Dalit community does not have access to higher education due to family reasons and poor economic condition.

There are only three graduates in Simikot Rural Municipality with 355 Dalit families. They are one each from Ward Nos. 5, 6 and 7. There are only 49 students who have passed SEE from Simkot-8 and only 12 students studying up to class 12. It has been revealed from the data that the children are forced to remain out of the school when the parents are not at home. The children of the Dalit community have not been able to go to school as they have to graze their animals and take care of their siblings.