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Would you go to school if it meant wading through a river and sitting through your lessons in a soaked uniform? Children in Jharkhand’s Lohra village have been doing this for years. Their 4km trek to the Utkramit Uchch Vidyalaya at Hesatu involves a walk through the forest as well.
Lohra is a tribal village in Keredari block of Hazaribagh, about 20km from the block headquarters.It has a middle school, but the nearest high school is at Hesatu in Tandwa block of the neighbouring Chatra district. The rain-fed Lohra river flows between the two districts and there is no bridge for Lohra residents to reach Tandwa.
The river rises in the monsoon and can be dangerous. If a child loses balance on its rocky bed, they can get swept away. But the students continue attending school regardless of the season.
The monsoon is a long season, says Sachin Kumar Ganjhu, a class 10 student, “We cannot stay away from school all those months. If we are absent, who will clear our doubts?” They take care to cross when the water is no more than waist-deep, he adds. Khushbu Kumari of class 8 says they use sticks to gauge the river’s depth before wading in. “If the level is high, we skip school that day.” She avoids going to school on rainy days also.
Sachin, another student, says he carries an extra uniform or other clothes in his bag. “We all keep our bags on our heads and shoes in one hand while crossing the river,” he says.
The school at Hesatu now has 350 students and 10 teachers. Bineshwar Kumar, a teacher, says the school’s strength increased after it was upgraded to a high school in 2016 and children from the neighbouring Keredari block of Hazaribagh also started coming.
Although Lohra has its own middle school, even 5-year-olds from the village now go to Hesatu. Farmer Arjun Lohra’s niece Riya Kumari is a class 1 student. He says her brothers carry her across the 100-foot-wide river on their shoulders.
“The Hesatu school is the best for studies, so we send our kids there,” says Lohra, adding, “There is another school in Misrol, about 7 km down a kuchcha road through dense forest. So Hesatu is our best option.”
On their part, education officers have tried to draw the authorities’ attention to the need for a bridge. School principal Daso Rana says, “I have informed the education department officials, but I am still waiting for a response.”
Block education extension officer of Tandwa, Manju Kumari, told TOI, “I’ve told the higher-ups about children having to cross a river to reach the school.” Lohra said Jharkhand minister Satyanand Bhokta is an alumnus of the Hesatu school, and parents had given him a written demand for a bridge when he visited the school on Teachers’ Day in 2021, but nothing changed.
Sudhir Kumar Das, SDO of Simaria in Chatra district, told TOI he would “ask for a report from the block development officer of Tandwa for further action.”
Lohra is a tribal village in Keredari block of Hazaribagh, about 20km from the block headquarters.It has a middle school, but the nearest high school is at Hesatu in Tandwa block of the neighbouring Chatra district. The rain-fed Lohra river flows between the two districts and there is no bridge for Lohra residents to reach Tandwa.
The river rises in the monsoon and can be dangerous. If a child loses balance on its rocky bed, they can get swept away. But the students continue attending school regardless of the season.
The monsoon is a long season, says Sachin Kumar Ganjhu, a class 10 student, “We cannot stay away from school all those months. If we are absent, who will clear our doubts?” They take care to cross when the water is no more than waist-deep, he adds. Khushbu Kumari of class 8 says they use sticks to gauge the river’s depth before wading in. “If the level is high, we skip school that day.” She avoids going to school on rainy days also.
Sachin, another student, says he carries an extra uniform or other clothes in his bag. “We all keep our bags on our heads and shoes in one hand while crossing the river,” he says.
The school at Hesatu now has 350 students and 10 teachers. Bineshwar Kumar, a teacher, says the school’s strength increased after it was upgraded to a high school in 2016 and children from the neighbouring Keredari block of Hazaribagh also started coming.
Although Lohra has its own middle school, even 5-year-olds from the village now go to Hesatu. Farmer Arjun Lohra’s niece Riya Kumari is a class 1 student. He says her brothers carry her across the 100-foot-wide river on their shoulders.
“The Hesatu school is the best for studies, so we send our kids there,” says Lohra, adding, “There is another school in Misrol, about 7 km down a kuchcha road through dense forest. So Hesatu is our best option.”
On their part, education officers have tried to draw the authorities’ attention to the need for a bridge. School principal Daso Rana says, “I have informed the education department officials, but I am still waiting for a response.”
Block education extension officer of Tandwa, Manju Kumari, told TOI, “I’ve told the higher-ups about children having to cross a river to reach the school.” Lohra said Jharkhand minister Satyanand Bhokta is an alumnus of the Hesatu school, and parents had given him a written demand for a bridge when he visited the school on Teachers’ Day in 2021, but nothing changed.
Sudhir Kumar Das, SDO of Simaria in Chatra district, told TOI he would “ask for a report from the block development officer of Tandwa for further action.”
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