Long road to learning: Jawali students risk lives to reach school amid monsoon

Children from Rajol gram panchayat in the Jawali Assembly constituency of Kangra district are risking their lives daily to attend school. With no high or senior secondary school in their village, students are forced to cross three rivulets and walk through dense forest paths to reach nearby schools.

This year, the situation has become more dangerous as the education department introduced a new vacation pattern. For the first time, schools in the Jawali sub-division remained open during the monsoon season instead of the usual monsoon break. As a result, children now have to attend school while rivulets and forest paths are flooded.

Students can continue their studies at Government Senior Secondary Schools located at Kotla (1.25 km), Ammani (1.25 km) and Kuther (3 km). However, to reach these schools, they must cross the Dehar Khud, Bher Khud and Bagh Nullah, all of which are dangerous during heavy rain. The forest path is also risky, especially due to the presence of wild animals.

Recently, a group of students got trapped while trying to cross the flooded Dehar Khud and a local resident, Gulam Kadar, rescued them by carrying them across on his shoulders.

Kewal Singh, deputy pradhan of Rajol panchayat, said the area has a population of around 2,700 and over 70 per cent belong to Scheduled Tribes like the Gaddis and Gujjars. Despite repeated requests, the government has not upgraded the local middle school to a high school.

Former panchayat pradhan KD Himachali said both late Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former CM Jairam Thakur had announced a high school for Kotla, but the promise was never fulfilled. He appealed to the current Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to act on the long-pending demand and ensure the safety of schoolchildren.