Jayanti Baral, a student of Badimalika Secondary School in Raskot Municipality, Kalikot, is thrilled to receive a new book as soon as she joined Grade 6 this year.

‘I finished Grade 5 with the old book given by the school,’ she said. ‘I got a new book for the first time, and after getting a new book, I will also be excited to read.’ Grade 9 student Hikmat Shahi also said that he was happy to receive the book on the first day. ‘Earlier, the whole book never arrived, and when I read it from my friend’s book, I could not understand what my teacher was teaching,’ he said. ‘The new book has added enthusiasm to my studies.’

Pushparaj Baral, the principal of Badimalika Secondary School, said that the students were happy to receive the whole set of books for the first time. According to him, until last year, the transporters used to deliver the books to the school late, and when the whole set of books did not arrive, they were forced to distribute the old textbooks to the students. According to him, 312 students have been admitted to the school so far. He informed that all of them have received books upon admission. The number of girls is higher among those admitted. The school has informed that 197 girls and 115 boys have been admitted so far.

470 students admitted to Janajivan Secondary School in Kalikot have also received books upon admission. ‘They are very happy after receiving the new books for the first time,’ said the school’s principal Tej Bahadur Shahi, ‘this year the students were freed from the compulsion to read old books.’

There are 3,266 community schools in Karnali. In which 595,599 students were admitted last year. The Directorate of Education Development estimates that the number of students admitted this year will be around the same. ‘Most schools have started teaching,’ said Deepa Hamal, acting director of the directorate, ‘in some schools, teaching is also going on along with admission, all the admitted students have received books.’

The data from the Janak Shiksha Samagi Kendra also confirms this. According to the center, out of the nearly 120,000 sets of books required across Karnali, 80,868 sets of books have already reached schools. ‘There are also some books from last year in schools and stationery stores,’ said Jamuna Dhakal, the provincial head of the center, ‘some class books are printed by the private sector, and they are also distributed through them. So far, almost 80 percent of the books have reached schools.’

The center’s data shows that the highest number of 17,984 books have been sent to Dailekh and the lowest number of 5,666 books have been sent to Jajarkot. Yagyashwar Khatri, head of the Education Development and Coordination Unit in Jajarkot, said that the enrollment campaign is still ongoing in schools as some students have gone out of the district with their parents. “Most of the parents here go to India for work, and some students have gone there to meet their parents after the exams,” he said. “Some students have also gone outside the district to pick herbs and work with their parents.” According to him, almost 80 percent of the students have been enrolled, while about 20 percent are yet to be enrolled. According to the Janak Education Material Center, the entrepreneurs who delivered almost 80 percent of the books in the first phase will now take more books based on the demand of the schools. He claims that the highest number of books have been sent this year, even before the enrollment campaign began in a decade. Last year, during the enrollment campaign, about 40 percent of the books were sent to 5 hilly and 5 mountainous districts of Karnali, while in 2081, about 49 percent, in 2080, 48 percent and in 2079, 45 percent of the books were sent outside. Similarly, there is data from the Limited that 40 percent of the books were sent in 2078. There is data from the Center that in previous years, around 30 to 40 percent of the books were sent. ‘This year, there was a big gap after the annual examination,’ she said, ‘Since the course did not change, the books were printed on time, businessmen also came to get the books on time, we also sent them quickly.’

Limited has stated that it has sold books worth 76.9 million rupees so far. According to the Limited, Janak Shiksha distributes books for classes 3 and 5 to 10, while the private sector has been given the responsibility of publishing and distributing textbooks for classes 1, 2 and 4. Ltd. has listed 89 bookstores to distribute textbooks across the province. In some local levels, schools have taken books on loan and distributed them to students due to the lack of funds for textbooks. There are 39 community schools in Soru rural municipality of Mugu. In which about 5,500 students are enrolled. But the municipality did not release nearly 2 million rupees for textbooks for the students, so the books were purchased on loan, said Govinda Shahi, a teacher at Sorukot Basic School. Chief Administrative Officer Kushal Baral, who was transferred two weeks ago, has not appeared in the municipality, while Birendra Malla, head of the education branch of the rural municipality, said that the funds for textbooks could not be released after the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed a case and the accountant was suspended. ‘Even though the books were on loan, the students got the books,’ he said, ‘teaching has already started in all the schools here.’

Kamal Nepali, a teacher at Bhairav ​​Secondary School in Sinja Rural Municipality, Jumla, said that until last year, students in rural areas of Karnali were forced to read old books for years. According to him, this year, about 410 students enrolled have received books with their admission. He said that last year, students received books only 2/3 months after admission due to problems such as Janak Shiksha not printing the books on time, the local level releasing the textbook money late even after printing, and the businessmen not bringing the books until the money was received. ‘Some years, the books would not arrive even for 6 months, they would be printed in Kathmandu and sent to the districts,’ he said, ‘students had to study with books that were several years old.’

Balbir Sunar, Senior Education Officer at the Ministry of Social Development of Karnali Province, said that in the past years, there has been a delay in reaching books to rural areas due to the lack of transportation facilities. ‘This year, vehicles have been introduced in Humla, and even now, many districts only have reliable transportation facilities up to the district headquarters,’ he said. ‘Some local levels still have to transport them on mules from there.’ According to him, until a few years ago, stationery traders used to delay the delivery of books to the Himalayan districts, citing transportation problems. According to him, even when the previous District Education Office was in place, there was a problem of delay in releasing the amount for textbooks.