44 schools yet to open in Barekot, epicenter of Jajarkot earthquake

Jajarkot, Nov 24: The earthquake-damaged schools in Barekot Rural Municipality in Jajarkot district have not opened yet after the earthquake happened on November 3.

The schools have not resumed their classes after the serious damages of their physical infrastructure, forcing some 9,800 plus students out of school. However, the schools in other local levels have reopened but the students are still out of schools due to delay in development of emergency leaning centres.

“Physical damage is severe though there is no human causality in Barekot, the epicenter of the November 3 quake. No school building is safe in Barekot,” rural municipality chairman Bir Bahadur Giri said. Likewise, the UNICEF has taken responsibility to build the temporary buildings of the schools in Barekot. The walls of school buildings in other local levels are broken but they are completely destroyed in Baekot. A total of 317 classrooms of 44 schools in Barekot are damaged in Barekot, according to chairman Giri. He shared that 119 toilets are also destroyed in the earthquake.

Giri added that the regular classes could be started only after the construction of 173 emergency learning centres.