Thanks to Sir Hillary, in the larger villages of the Khumbu, public schools are available to children in 1st - 5th grades. Public schools for older children are scarce. If parents can't afford to send their children to a private school, they must go to work. Note the contrast: students with back packs on their way to school, followed by the boys carrying heavy loads.

This little boy, running up a steep trail on his way to the public school, was crying because his friends or siblings left him behind. But he picture holds hope; moreover, most Nepali parents want their children to have an education.