'Bamboo schools' bring hope to Nepal's poor

When Uttam Sanjel began giving reading classes to street children in the Nepalese capital in the 1990s, he had little idea what his small teaching scheme would one day turn into.

This month, the 35-year-old Kathmandu native who was once an aspiring Bollywood actor opened his tenth school in Nepal and revealed ambitious plans to provide affordable education for all children in the Himalayan nation. Over the past nine years, Sanjel has built up a nationwide network of schools that offer an education for just 100 rupees (1.40 dollars) a month in one of the w

orld's poorest countries.

They are built using only the cheapest materials earning them the nickname "bamboo schools" with funds donated by local businesspeople and charitable organisations.

"I want every child to benefit from my schools," Sanjel told AFP after hosting a colourful opening ceremony for his latest addition in this village in western Nepal.

"No child should be left out of school because the family can't afford to pay for education.

"When the current political turmoil is over in Nepal, we will need educated people to build this country."

When Sanjel built his first school in 2001, Nepal was in the grip of a 10-year civil war between Maoist rebels and the army in which at least 13,000 people died.

The conflict ended in 2006, but political stability remains elusive and more than half the population still lives beneath the poverty line.

Nonetheless, education is highly prized and many families scrimp to send children to fee-paying schools that offer classes in English rather than to the Nepali-language government schools.

But a private education remains out of the reach of many in the Himalayan nation.

AFP