Heera Devi Yami and education system, Nepal
Senior citizens of Nepal above eighty years recall Heera Devi's ( http://www.dharmaheera.com/all-stories) saying "education is very important part of life, people can have very wealthy life, but all that money, houses etc can disappear but whatever you study and learn will always stay and can never be stolen by others and will always remain as guiding factor" Since education was banned for 104 years until 1951 for general public many people could not understand her feelings and meanings then. She used to go around collecting children secretly and teach English in dark area hideouts inside interiors of core areas of Kathmandu for the fear of being arrested by Rana regime. She didn't give up when the older generation parents started harassing her on her effort to make girls learn from hideout areas because she knew she would get the blame, as if she had somehow encouraged them to teach them to start communicating through small pieces of papers with boys. They were brainwashed by Poojaries to think if words are written in pieces of papers, the paper will "TALK" and it will spread as "MANTRA". When she taught them secretly. She was right: when their family members found out, they banned those girls from going back to her secret learning areas, worried about the effect on their "honor" for the fear being getting exposed. They even to get them her married at early age before they start mensuration as per the tradition. Communities from outskirts of cities hand over the girls to dirty ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi ) JOGIS if they start mensuration. It used to be considered earning "PUNYA" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punya_(Hinduism) ) donating such girls who are considered unfit for marriage. Heera Devi wanted to abolish such traditions.
Senior citizens said before 1950 general public had to take special permissions from Rana regime to get enrolled in this school and there were no other options in the capital city. They used to be frightened to go for initiating such processes. She was such an inspiration during those days. People were glad that Nepal had such woman during such oppressed regime.
Heera Devi used to collect women in secret dark areas of interior localities of capital Kathmandu and convince frightened ladies that "education is a powerful tool to bring changes and improving unproductive traditional system in the society ".
Nepal has the youngest education system in the world, with formal education starting only in 1951. Before then, educational practices were strictly forbidden by the Rana regime—an oligarchy rule that persisted in the country for 104 years. During the Rana era, school opportunities were extremely restricted and severe penalties were inflicted on those attempting to promote education (Caddell, 2007). Heera Devi secretly learnt English from Jagat Lal Master (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagat_Lal_Master) . During her treatment period for tuberculosis at Calcutta and Kalingpong she utilized her time strengthening her further knowledge in English.
She went also underground along with her husband in India. She herself was a freedom fighter, who herself was revolutionary too fighting for democratic rights for citizens of Nepal. She also broke all the barriers imposed upon females in the Nepali society. In fact, senior citizens of these days were awed by her bravery and strength recalling all the adversaries she faced during the revolt against the ruling government then.
She witnessed massacres in the revolution for liberation of India from British rule when Indians lost Round ten lakh people. She understood that Ranas were just the agents of British people who ruled indirectly in Nepal. To weaken the strengths of Ranas she understood the need of help from some external honest Indian politicians support who were sacrificing lives for waging war against British rule in India. To bring full awareness of democracy in Nepal she realized the importance of education for general public.People used to be scared to carry publicly books. She taught people in secret areas. The fall of the Rana regime and establishment of a new-found democracy in 1951 introduced formal education practices in Nepal (UNESCO, 2000). The Ministry of Education was established in 1951, which planned on providing five years of primary education within 25 years (Wood 1959)
Her only one son grew up in https://stx.edu.np/ school. She used to strengthen her knowledge of English by asking her son whenever he come home during holidays. She used to teach children whatever she knew.
Inside her family education was a top priority. Educational pursuits were celebrated in her family. Her six daughters and a son were very lucky to have such a wonderful mother at home. However, she died in year 1970 at the age of forty nine leaving behind seven children at vulnerable ages. Her children always remembered her words "education is very important part of life, people can have very wealthy life, but all that money, houses etc can disappear but whatever you study and learn will always stay and can never be stolen by others and will always remain as guiding factor"