The newly reconstructed buildings of Shree Shahid Jagat Prakash Jung Shah Sanskrit Secondary School was handed over to the school management committee today. The school situated in Bidur-5, Devighat, Nuwakotwas damaged during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Since then, the school faced difficulties in managing classrooms and education for the students.

The school infrastructureswere jointly inaugurated by Mr. Arjun Narsingh KC, Parliament Member and Ms. Tanaka Tomoko,SeniorRepresentative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)Nepal amidst a function held in the school premises today.

Dilli Ram Luintel Project Director of Central Level Project Implementation Unit (CLPIU),Rajindra Bikram Singh Thakuri, District Coordination Unit Chief, Kiran Thapa,District Administration Chief, were also present during the ceremony.

The reconstruction of the school structuresis part of theEmergency School Reconstruction Project (ESRP) supported by JICA. The Project is being implemented by CLPIU - Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST).

The school with 518 students isreconstructed withmulti-hazard resilient structures which are child,gender and disable friendly to provide improved learning environment for the students based on the concept of Build Back Better (BBB) which increases resilience not only physically but also socially. The 6 new school blocks consist of 17 classrooms equipped with furniture’s, 1 laboratory, 3 early childhood development centers, separate toilet blocks for boys & girls,solar back up, playground, main entrance gate, boundary fences and footpath pavement.

Speaking at the ceremony,the Chief Guest Mr. Arjun Narasingh KChighlighted on the instrumental role of Government of Japan and JICA Nepal for the reconstruction and completion of the school buildings. He also expressed expectationsfor similar cooperation in the future.

Similarly, KIKUTA Yutaka, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal’s speech was delivered through a video where he congratulated the school for the new buildings and thanked the Government of Nepal and the project team for completing the reconstruction. He further stated that since this school promotes diversity by accepting students from all over Nepal, he hopes to see increase in number of students gradually and that the school facilities are well utilized by all the students.Likewise, he anticipatesseeing all the students studying in this school to play a leading role in improving people to people relationship between Nepal and Japan as well as contributing to the development of Nepal.

TANAKA Tomoko, Senior Representative of JICA Nepal expressed her contentmentin handing over such multi-hazard resilient school facilities. She further stated that although the school infrastructure is now complete the real testimony now lies in appropriate utilization of the building, so that the future of all children is secured. She also requested the school management committee, and school team to give special attention to the operation and maintenance issue of the reconstructed schools. Besides this school, JICA have supported the reconstruction of 72 other schools in Nuwakot.

Emergency School Reconstruction Project (ESRP): Total 274 schools are being built, out of which 273are completed and remaining 1 is targeted to be complete by April 2023. The total cost for the project is JPY 14 billion(about NPR 14 billion) to support the reconstruction of disaster resilient schools in Gorkha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Makwanpur, Rasuwa and Lalitpur Districts, based on the earthquake-resistant type design guidelines formulated by JICA under the principle of “Build Back Better”.