The Nepal earthquake disrupted the education of around 1.5 million children. Donations to World Vision's Nepal Earthquake Appeal have helped students in some of the hardest hit areas get back to school.
Our earthquake response team built 54 Temporary Learning Centres to provide children and teachers with a safe learning environment amidst recovery efforts.
One school to receive assistance is in Gorkha, near the earthquake's epicentre. It was damaged along with most other buildings in the area.
“The building that was destroyed was open for just one day before the earthquake,” says the school’s Vice Principal, Ramji Sapkota. “It was constructed through the sweat and toil of all of the parents and the local community here.”
"At the time, it was quite tragic,” he continues. “The teachers were scared to teach in the school because their houses had been destroyed, and the students were scared as well.”
“However because of the support provided by World Vision, like the Temporary Learning Centre, the food program and the books for students, those materials helped a lot.”
This Temporary Learning Centre at the Gorkha school is still being used today whilst World Vision helps the community repair the existing school building that was damaged in the earthquake.
Deep cracks criss-cross the walls of the Gorkha primary school. One year after the earthquake, around 160,000 Nepalese children still don't have access to permanent classrooms. World Vision is managing the construction, repair and retrofitting of schools like this one in Gorkha, alongside training teachers in disaster management and psychosocial support.
The Temporary Learning Centre is an eruption of colour, with handmade pictures strung along the walls, books scattered in the corner, and children hard at work on their lessons.
Older students sit their final year exams in a ground floor room of their earthquake-damaged school. The upper levels of the building are out of bounds until repairs are complete.
Sunil, aged nine, is confident he's done well in his exams. He's a maths whiz! For a long time after the earthquake, Sunil was still afraid.“I thought that if I was at home and an earthquake would come, I could get stuck under the rubble,” he says. “On the first day coming back to school, I was still scared. But I spent some time playing in the Child Friendly Space and was much happier.” In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, World Vision established 35 Child Friendly Spaces where children had a secure area to play, learn and be supported.
In the year since the earthquake, World Vision has supported over 8,000 children to resume their education by building Temporary Learning Centres where schools had been damaged or destroyed. Gorkha Primary School Vice Principal, Ramji Sapkota, says his community is extremely grateful for the support they have received so far and is excited that his school is being built back better. “We are so happy that the building is going to be rebuilt,” Mr Sapkota says. “I believe we will use it carefully. We will conserve it, preserve it and protect it. We’ll be so careful with it.”