Going to school is not the similar experience for everyone. While we have the luxury of transport to go to schools, some children in the world have to cross the most unimaginable and dangerous paths every day to access education. It is not an easy stroll to a school bus stop or an air-conditioned ride in parent’s car.
There is a whole series of documentaries on YouTube which document the experiences of children who have to walk on the treacherous cliff edges, trek into the mountains for miles, or cross the broken bridges to reach the school. I will encourage you all to watch these documentaries. Here are some clips from the documentaries:
Kumpur (Nepal): Children walk across the mountains and rivers of the highest situated country on the earth to reach school.
Savanna (Kenya): Children walk through the forest which is infamous for all kind of wildlife including roaming predators.
Himalaya: Children cross the frozen river and the ice. It takes four days to reach boarding school.
Many children in Oimzakon (Russia), Philippines, Bolivia, Siberia, Mexico, and Colombia have similar experiences.
PS: While I was watching these documentaries, I remembered the meme that this is how our parents claimed to go to the school xD.
Thank you for sharing this, this is highly relatable with the Pakistani's schools and colleges context. I have witnessed myself personally some boys and girls who have to travel through long dangerous paths just to reach their schools and colleges. A few of my college classmates used to come to college from Chaman district side and it was very hectic and stressful from them because they have to travel almost 3 long hours in the morning.
Honestly, this looks better than my experience of loud, busy roads of polluted cities. Is it possible that some of these may actually add to the educational value and enrich the childhood experience through memorable adventures? For example a 4 day hike twice a year with friends and family to get to boarding school can be a good, healthy activity.
Thank u for sharing! VV interesting information,
Thank you for sharing this! Also, in the documentary shared by sir, there was a mention about a country where there are potholes all across the roads, and till November, there are rainfalls and it is extremely difficult for the children to commute to school since the potholes are filled with water and their clothes get dirty. So while the governments are taking measures for making education accessible for everyone, they also need to pay attention to the commuting ways and routes.
Very informative. And even in Pakistan, the students have to travel along long distances and dangerous paths just to get to school. For example, one of my classfellows in school, who used to live in a nearby village, had to travel 20+ kilometers (one way) everyday on local bus to get to school.