This project will work with children from Chepang community of Makwanpur (Nepal) to increase their enrollment, attendance and retention in schools through educational support, tutorial classes and extra curricular activities in order to enhance living conditions of their families and communities.
Chepangs, indigenous populations of Nepal continue to live in caves and nomadic life in hills of Makwanpur. They face lack of economic resources, subsistence agriculture that force them into daily wage labour. Children work in agriculture, get woods, fodder, fetch water, support household chores; schools are 3-5 hours away. There is little supportive environment at school for them. As a result, most of the children do not go to school - those who do, majority drop out by elementary level
We will encourage school enrollment and retention through: educational support includes school enrollment, uniform, bag, stationary worth US$ 50 per year and a small food fund (US$ 5/month). Tutorial classes supports them with class and home works which will be conducted with 10 students per cluster (US$ 30/month/tutor). School competitions and extra-curricular activities (20 schools): artwork, debates, elocution on importance and respect for diversity and marginalized. (US$ 200/school/year
The project will provide educational support to 200 Chepang children in coordination with 20 schools in 3 years. This will significantly help children adapt with other peers, perform better in their studies and decrease drop-out rate. They will able to bridge between their communities and government to access local government resources, health and agricultural facilities. Enrollment, attendance and retention of children in school will be increased, resulting decreased child marriage.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Excel file (projdoc.xls).
