Situation on the ground

The local school attendance is low, Out of 538 school-age children from Bhatighadi, 142 attend school regularly, 200 are irregular attenders and 196 do not attend at all. The majority of regular attendees are girls, and poor attendance is partly due to dilapidated and dangerous school buildings with inadequate classrooms and teachers. The CFUG Chairman, Mr. Shyam Lama, aims to increase attendance with support from the local Head Teacher and Mithila Wildlife Trust's five-year plan to increase attendance to 800 by attracting students from private schools. The project is also developing a sustainability program and fundraising through a special Big Give appeal in May, where donations will be matched, and has already received a grant pledge of £25,500 for a computer classroom by Guy's Trust.