Shree Janakalyan, a senior high school in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, rebuilt by the government of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Red Cross Society of China, was recently handed over in an official ceremony.

The Shree Janakalyan school, rebuilt by the Yushu government in China and various organizations, was recently handed over in an official ceremony. (Photos: Courtesy of Cao Guofeng)

The school is located in the Boudha area, a settlement for ethnic Tibetans in Nepal. An earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015 left about 1,400 students of Shree Janakalyan without a school building.

The Chinese government and various societies helped to renovate the buildings, purchasing thousands of pieces of teaching equipment including 300 desks and 900 chairs and installing bathrooms and large solar water heaters for students. 

Yushu, Northwest China's Qinghai Province, experienced a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in 2010, which toppled thousands of houses and left around 3,000 people dead or missing and more than 10,000 injured. Thanks to support from around the world, Yushu has been rebuilt and transformed over the past few years from a remote, backward town to a modern city.

The Shree Janakalyan school, rebuilt by the Yushu government in China and various organizations, was recently handed over in an official ceremony. 

The Yushu government has expressed its support and love to Nepali students, said Zhang Guoqiang, vice chairman of the Yushu People's Political Consultative Conference, at the handover ceremony.

The design and planning of the new school buildings and the risk assessment of the old buildings following the earthquake took a long time, resulting in the entire assistance project taking three years to complete.

The school officially resumed operation in 2018, but the formal handover was not carried out until nearly one year later, during which time the Chinese side continuously improved and replenished educational facilities, Cao Guofeng, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal-China Kailash Culture Association, a group responsible for the supervision of the whole project, told the Global Times.

Cao said that at the upcoming Nepali New Year's Day on April 14, the school will be a "New Year gift" to the local children. A Nepalese student told the China News Service that he liked the new classrooms and equipment very much, which greatly motivated him to make more efforts in his studies.

Nepali students express their gratitude as the school reopens.

Many of Nepal's schools have yet to recover from the earthquake, said Cao, adding that they plan to help build two more schools in the future. "The support for education in Nepal is boundless. Despite the difficulties, we are confident we can contribute our strength," he said.

Cover image: The school rebuilt by the Yushu government in China