Due to the hard work of students, active participation of teachers and participation of the community, a school here is earning good income by learning skills through farming. At Gwagha Secondary School in Gwagha, Chandrakot Rural Municipality-5, Gulmi, students are also participating in agricultural work along with their studies.

Aarohi Kaucha, a student studying in class 8, said that after doing agriculture in school, she got the opportunity to understand agricultural work. ‘The habit of working together in a group has developed,’ she said, ‘We think that school learning can be carried forward as a profession at home too.’

Two ropanis of land are currently being cultivated in the school premises. Some of which is private land, but it has been given to the school for free use. 90 students from classes 8 to 10 are involved in agriculture. Students are engaged in agriculture on a rotating basis, on holidays, during free periods and before and after school hours. In which there is active participation of teachers and support from the community level.

The school's principal, Prakash Thapa, said that the school has earned eight lakh rupees from the agricultural work that has been started for three years. Out of which, 2 lakh rupees have been distributed to students for educational tours and scholarships, while 6 lakh rupees have been saved in the 'Student Welfare Fund'. The school is cultivating vegetables including Akbar chillies, ginger, mushrooms, squash and beans using mulching technology.

Shulav Karki, a student in grade 11, has learned from school and has started commercial farming at home. He manages his expenses through agriculture, which is seasonal, and since his parents are also involved in this, he has also been able to meet his household expenses. ‘We learned mushroom and chilli farming at school by working together with our friends,’ he said. ‘Now we have expanded mushroom and chilli farming at home, which has also generated financial income and has also helped our parents.’ His parents have been supportive and appreciative of his work.’ Another student, Sonia Karki, says that she has been able to use the products they have produced together and that it has also taught her. ‘My grandparents used to farm traditionally, which was only enough to eat for a while,’ she said. ‘We have done it in a modern way, and we hope that it will benefit us in the future along with income.’ She said that they take the seedlings home and plant them to produce.

Samir Karki is a new student at this school studying in class 8. He is also attracted to the agriculture that this school has started. ‘We learned in the village school that agriculture can also provide employment and income,’ he said.

Despite being a rural school with general subjects rather than technical subjects, the school's principal Prakash Thapa said that they started agricultural work as a new practice for the students and for the school. 'There was a problem that students did not study, got addicted to it and only played games on mobile phones in their free time,' he said, 'We started it to make good use of the free period, holidays and the time before and after school as a way of learning for the students.' He said that although there was no arable land in the school grounds, they were farming in the barren fields that were used as weeds.

Last year, the school earned an income of 1.5 lakh rupees from the sale of Akbare chillies alone and sold more than 6 quintals of ginger. Even now, Akbare chillies are being sold from the school at 300 rupees per kilo. The teachers have been distributing free seedlings to the students and monitoring their condition. ‘With the hard work of the students, our activism and the community, along with learning, income is also being generated from agriculture,’ said Principal Prakash Thapa.

School Management Committee Chairman Lil Bahadur Rana said that the school has received good support from the community and the school has been able to work as planned. ‘We have received free land from the community level, and fertilizer is also being provided,’ he said, ‘The community is united in financial support along with the supervision of the school.’ He said that all the locals here in the country and abroad are helping to make the school better.