Armadanda, West Rukum
SHREE SARASWATI SECONDARY SCHOOL

There is only one secondary school in the village of Armadanda, the Shree Saraswati Secondary School. It was originally run from kindergarten (ECD = Early Childhood Development) to year 12 in five buildings (one RCC building and four other buildings made of drywall), which only offered limited space for the students. However, after the severe earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on November 3, 2023, only the reinforced concrete building with cracks remained, which is used for administration. As there is only one school, children from the surrounding villages also come here to receive an education. There are currently 455 pupils (aged 3 to 16) from kindergarten to year 12, 229 of whom are girls and 226 boys. They are looked after by 16 teachers and 16 members of staff (including a bookkeeper and office staff).

With the financial support of UNICEF Nepal, 4 temporary classrooms were built and with the financial support of the local government, 5 additional tent-like rooms were erected, which are used by the students on a rented private property. With financial support from the Federal President’s Education Program, 4 classrooms are being built as RCC buildings and with the Chay Ya Nepal “Food for work” program, 7 temporary classrooms are being built.

The plan is now to build another 4 permanent classrooms to provide the students with a quality education. We expect the number of pupils to increase from 455 to 575 after the expansion, the municipality will hire more teachers and the quality of education will improve.

The municipality supports the school with a contribution of 20 %.