the people benefits.
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Schools in Sunsari amagnet for Bihar kids
SHANKAR KHAREL
SUNSARI, April 14 - Every morning Abdul Rajak and his three younger
siblings walk from a village at Supaul district of Bihar, India, to
attend school at bordering Ghuski village in Sunsari district.
Unlike in the case of other border crossers, security guards do not
rummage through their bags or frisk them. One, for being students and
secondly, because there are thousands of others like Abdul and his
three siblings who cross the border everyday to attend school in
bordering villages of Sunsari.
Except on Saturdays and other public holidays in the Nepali calendar,
hordes of boys and girls in school uniforms can be seen entering
Sunsari through the Indo-Nepal border crossing points. Smaller
children are guided by their parents. They go to various schools and
Madrasas in Sunsari district.
"We don't have good schools back in Supaul, classes aren't regular,"
Abdul says, "and schools in Sunsari are much better."
There are more than 3,000 children from Supaul, India, who attend
schools and Madrasas in Sunsari district. At school, these children
dissolve among Nepali children. They sing Nepali national anthem
during the morning assembly before entering their classes like most
other children.
Ayub Mohammad Miya Ansari, a Madrasa teacher, says the Indian children
mix with the local children really well. "They don't care if they are
from different countries. They just see each other as friends and
that's all there is to define their relationship."
Ninth grader Mohammad Usman Miya at one school says, "We hardly
discuss our nationality. We study together and play together. It's
just that my home is a bit farther than of my friends." He takes more
than an hour long walk every morning to attend school in Sunsari.
Parents believe that the bond between Indian and Nepali children at
school has helped strengthen the good relations between people of the
two countries.
"These children have helped create a sense of solidarity and
friendship between the people living on either side of the border,"
says Sanu Yadav, a parent.
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