1 September 2026

In order to save money, some professions have been broken up into various different tasks and others have been trained to fulfil these particular tasks. By their very nature a profession is much more than the sum of its parts. It is much more holistic than that.

I thought about this the other day when I read about Rajendra Dadabi, the Principal of  Tribhuvan Trishuli  Secondary School in north-central Nepal. At 9-20am on Wednesday 26 August, there were 900 students in the school. They were half way through the early shift. Another 700 were on their way by foot and bus.

Rajendra got a phone call from a friend who lived five miles upstream. As Chris Haslam reported, he told the Principal that his village had gone, taken by the river. ‘Run!’ he said. Rajendra thought for a moment and assessed the situation. The three storey school was built of concrete and 60m above the river.

A parent interrupted him. ‘The River is rising!’ Now he knew what to do. He rang the bell and evacuated the school. The students were led up the hill by their teachers. Then there were the school buses. He contacted the drivers and told them to turn back.

One was on the bridge. He was redirected and reversed back just before the bridge collapsed. Remarkably 1,643 children were saved by the Principal’s wise and timely actions. The janitor, who returned to close the school doors, was washed away along with the three storey school building.

People claimed he was a hero. He desisted. ‘What else could I do?’ But I would argue that it was precisely for this moment in time that Rajendra was paid his Principal’s salary. It was his ultimate responsibility to keep staff and students safe. At the time of crisis all his experience and training came into  play and saved 1,643 children!