The Girl’s Education Project
Despite, educating girls has many advantages such as, improved gender equality, health, education, better family planning and economic growth, girls’ education has been ignored in Nepalese communities. It is particularly rare for girls that come from poor and Dalit families in rural villages of Nepal, to receive an education. The main reasons are cultural traditions, an unsuitable schooling environment for girls, financial problems and lack of awareness about the importance of girls’ education. Consequently, this project will support the girls most in need of schooling.
The main aims and objectives of this project are,
- To raise awareness about importance of girls’ education through family visits and support
- To provide support to girls who are from the poorest and/or Dalit families and struggling to maintain schooling costs
- Support the local people with skills by contracting for uniform making, shoe making and stationary supply which will create further livelihood opportunities
- Co-operate with local government authorities, schools, teachers, parents and locals to improve the schooling environment for girls
Target Group and Stakeholders,
- Sponsored girls and their parents: the sponsored girls and their parents are the main stakeholders of the project, and our partnership is strong and healthy. We have verbale as well as written agreement with parents of the sponsored girls that they must not leave the sponsorship scheme without completing the 10+2 study and Hamro Samaj Nepal must provide the study support until so.
- Community Schools: the sponsored girls are studying in eight community schools of Mahadewa Municipality, and the schools are also key partner and stakeholders. We visit the schools regularly and collect school attendance of the girls. Our relationship with most schools is fairly healthy.
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Community Villages and Villagers: our ultimate goal is to improve the wellbeing of poor and Dalits in rural villages of Nepal by enabling access to education and learning so that they can make a sound decision on uses of available resources. All our sponsored girls are from the villages, and we have a very health relationship with the villagers
The progresses we are making:
The Girl’s Education Project, funded by Nepal Village Foundation (NVF) and delivered
by Hamro Samaj Nepal (HSN) commenced in 2009. The education programme was
established in order to help girls from poor and Dalit communities in Mahadewa Rural
Municipality of Saptari District to access education.
Although education for both boys and girls has been mandatory since 2011, in many rural
community’s families have found the financial burden of educating their children to be
too heavy and, where choices had to be made, boys were prioritised above girls because
they bring income to the family. NVF’s aim has always been to provide educational
opportunities for girls and to demonstrate how this can benefit the community as a
whole.
When the project first started, girls were recruited from the age of 5 years and NVF funded
a small team who raised awareness among parents, encouraged them to enrol their girls
in the project and then provided support to ensure that attendance was maintained. This
has now changed because little girls are all being sent to school by their families. This
was the first positive eAect of the project as a whole. Through, we have also learned that
the girls of age 12 and older are being forced to work in field and assist their mother in
households jobs which holds them back from attending school.
Now the focus is on supporting the girls through the later stages of primary
education (age up to 14 years), then through secondary education to the Secondary
Education Examinations (age 16) and the Higher Secondary Education Examinations
(age 18). NVF funds the books they require, uniforms, a school bag, geometry set,
calculator and, for new girls joining the scheme, a bicycle. At present, we still fund the
outreach workers who ensure that the girls maintain a good attendance record and
provide some additional tutoring outside the classroom, including lessons in Nepali,
which is used in schools but is not spoken in local communities.
Throughout the time the girls are being educated, NVF works hard to improve their
wellbeing, to ensure that period poverty does not regularly interrupt their education and
to ensure that they are less likely to be married below Nepal’s legal age limit (as of 2025
this is 20 for both women and men). Child marriage has been a cultural norm in these
communities, especially for girls, which legislation has not been able to eradicate.
However, education is starting to change this, as the girls discover the opportunities that
can become available to them outside the home. NVF also teaches families about the
risks involved in child marriage and early pregnancies.
Now, many of the young women who have benefitted from our support are making
their presence felt in their local communities. As a result, we are starting to break
down some of the cultural barriers to girls’ education, although the financial barriers
still remain.
The scheme is currently committed to supporting 75 girls through secondary and higher
secondary education. Indirectly, we can already demonstrate the positive eAect that the
project is having on local communities. We collect regular feedback from the scheme’s
graduates and this shows us that they have tremendous ambitions. Often, the girls who
we support are the first women in their family who have learned how to read.
On a recent visit to the project, Dr Carole Sharma, Chair of NVF Trustees, joined Krit
Sharma, local Project Director, in interviewing some of the project’s graduates about the
eAect that the years of education have had on their lives and that of the local community.
Here are the words of three of our graduates:
- Pushpa is 19 years old and enjoys playing volleyball in her spare time. Pushpa’s father
works as a builder and her mother works as an agricultural labourer. Pushpa loves
the natural beauty of Nepal, Terai and the Himalayas but, she says:
“My life without school would be in the dark. NVF has helped me to continue my
education. It has paid all of my school and exam fees, and provided me with a bicycle,
uniform, pen, notebooks, geometry box, calculator and school bag. Without school, I
would be working at home, assisting my mother and would have learned to stitch
clothes. Now I want to be an accountant to make the money I need to support my
family”.
Pushpa also wants to end caste-based discrimination in Nepal, which acts as a
barrier to girls like her from accessing education and other opportunities.
- Binita is 21 years old. Her father died when she was younger, which left her mother to
support the family. As a subsistence farmer, she struggled to pay for Binita’s
education. Binita was supported by NVF through her secondary and higher education
and is now doing her bachelor’s degree.
“Without school, I wouldn’t be able to read or write. I would have stayed at home with
my mother. Now, I am doing my bachelor’s degree and want to work in a bank after I
have finished. The NVF gave me an opportunity to make my future better. Thank you
very much to the NVF and donors. Please also help other girls like me in my village”.
- Nilam is 20 years old and is now a teacher. Without an education, she would have
become an agricultural labourer like her mother. Nilam enjoys reading books and the
flora of Nepal. However, there are parts of life in Nepal where she’s passionate about
wanting to see change; especially gender violence and dowry culture.
“Now I am earning money, I can look after myself”, she says. “The NVF helped me to
complete secondary school. Without school, I wouldn’t know much about things
outside of my home. Education is important as it enables a bigger and brighter future”.
Other participants also gave evidence of community engagement. They are assisting
others to access the scheme, assisting adults when literacy is a problem and doing some
teaching and coaching of younger girls. Some expressed a desire to work with HSN to
maintain the scheme. The graduates also expressed a need for assistance in accessing
further education and employment opportunities.
The adult women felt better prepared to raise their children and that they had a good
understanding of health, nutrition and hygiene. They were also planning to prepare their
children for school.
The demand from girls wanting to access education is growing each year and more are
also registering for higher secondary education. Some have progressed to university,
although we are not able to fund this at present.
We want to be able to respond positively to any girl from the Dalit community in the
Saptari District who wishes to embark on their education journey and support them
throughout that journey. We also want to make it possible for some of the project’s
graduates to work alongside and share their experience with our local partner
organisation, Hamro Samaj Nepal (HSN).
An educated girl will also probably be a future mother and there is ample evidence to
suggest that an educated mother ensures that her children will get an education
regardless of gender, will bring up healthier babies, have better family planning and will
also participate in income generating activities and community social activities.
Informally, the girls are often called upon by other members of their community when
their ability to read and write is much appreciated. Hence, this is a reliable and
sustainable approach to the reduction of poverty as well as to the wellbeing of the Dalits
who are the poorest of the poor in rural Nepal.
NVF aims to maintain its current level of support for girls from the Dalit community in
rural Nepal as they complete their education. NVF and HSN are, together, changing
perceptions regarding the value of girls’ education and young girls see the scheme’s
graduates as role models that they can aspire to emulate. HSN is widely recognised and
trusted among the local villages. As a result, interest in participating continues to grow
year on year and NVF is assessing additional methods to increase its income through
various fundraising activities.
How we might support some girls into further education will require consideration,
planning and additional funding. More information about Nepal Village Foundation and
the works we do are available at www.nvf.org.uk .