Hetauda, Oct. 9 -- The rain was pouring down as school let out at 4 pm on Thursday. As students prepared to head home, the Lothar Khola had swollen into a muddy torrent.

Chinimaya Chepang, an eighth-grader from Kharkhande in Ward 6 of Raksirang rural municipality, rolled up her trousers and stepped into the river. Other students followed. With the current running fast, older children carried younger ones across, some on their backs and others tucked under their arms.

Children from Kharkhande and the lower settlements of Silinge in Raksirang-6 attend Thakaltar Secondary School in Thakaltar, Ward 11 of Rapti municipality in neighbouring Chitwan district. Around 50 children from Kharkhande and nearby settlements study there, according to S...