Today Market, Not School!!

One of the causes of absenteeism of the students in Rukum district is their Compulsion to assist their parents in household works and agricultural works such as working in the farm, going to the market to carry loads, taking care of younger children when seniors are at work, so on and so forth. The roads leads to Jhulneta – a local market of Rukum district and the girl (a Grade 7 student) and her mother had come from Banthakot – a village of Muru 9, Rukum.

The girl should have gone to school that day. The time the picture was taken was just 9:30 AM – the time for going to school. The market is far and the load will be heavy that goes against child rights. There should have been school bag on her back, a pen in her pocket and a box with Tiffin. On our curiosity to learn the specific cause, we asked her, “Why didn’t you go to school today?” The timid girl stopped with surprise and didn’t speak any. Addressing her mother we again inquired, “Why didn’t you send her to the school today?” In a rather shy and hesitating voice she replied, “We are going to the market to carry loads” and continued her untoward trip. The answer was enough. The pragmatics and socioeconomic status of the people that we observed during the visit were answering several questions of this type. We met many girls and boys of such types during our field visit. Some of them were found carrying ghee and honey to the nearest market, which were bartered with sugar and salt.