Kathmandu: The government of Japan has handed over the newly reconstructed Jyoti Secondary School in Hetauda of Makawanpur district on Friday amidst a program.
The school was severely damaged by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, but it is now reconstructed under the “Emergency School Reconstruction Project” (ESRP), which is a Japan assisted project to reconstruct many schools.
The Handover Ceremony of the newly reconstructed school building was held in the presence of Rajesh Baniya, Deputy Mayor of Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City; Dilliram Luitel, Project Director of CLPIU; OKUBO Akimitsu, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal Office.
On behalf of the Government of Japan, KIKUTA Yutaka, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, sent his congratulatory video speech to the people who have made contributions under the ESRP, in particular, the team of Shree Jyoti Secondary School.
Kikuta stated that “Japan launched the ESRP which aimed at the reconstruction of 274 schools in total, covering 6 severely hit districts. As of today, 270 schools, including this one, have already been completed. Moreover, ESRP aims to rebuild and refurbish schools under the concept of “Build Back Better” to make schools more earthquake resilient.”
He further spoke to students that “Thank you for your waiting in patience. The new school is finally in your hands today and will provide a safe and comfortable school life that allows you to focus on your studies.”
In his speech, Kikuta mentioned that this year marks the 120th anniversary since Nepal dispatched its first eight students to Japan for study and that he was delighted to handover the newly reconstructed school in this celebratory year, the embassy said in a statement.
He also expressed his hope to see many students studied in the school play a leading role on people-to-people relationship between the two countries as well as on the development of Nepal in the future.
The Embassy of Japan in Nepal hopes that the ESRP schools further strengthen the relationship between Japan and Nepal, and the friendship between the peoples of the two countries, for the future generations.
