The Girls Education Project in Rural Nepal

Namaste from the cold and windy land of Nepal. All the ninety-seven girls are busy preparing for the coming exams. The girls in class eight and ten are working harder because they have to take the district and national levels of exam in the coming month. There are eight girls in class eight and thirteen girls are in class ten. The girls in class ten have to take a pre-test before appearing in the final national exam which called Secondary Education Examination (SEE).

HSN staff are pretty busy to support the girls in every way that is possible to ensure the girls have the right support in preparation for the exam. The girls are receiving addition tuition classes by private teachers as well as taking additional coaching classes provided by the schools. SEE exam is the most important exam because it determines which way the educational career of the participants goes. So the thirteen girls who will be taking the exams soon are pretty nervous too.

Despite the importance of the exam, the school attendance of the girls in class ten and nine is not good. It is because they are teenagers and have to work with their parents in the field as the last two months has been a busy month for the farmers. Livelihoods of the people in the villages depend on agriculture and regardless of anything else they all works in the field during the months. The sad part is that the ministry of education yet failed to recognise the importance and decides to schedule the exam in those months. School attendance of the remaining girls in the lowers class is fairly satisfactory.

During the next couple of months, all the staff will remain busy in supporting the girls in preparing the exams along with getting more girls in higher secondary education. We have the support from a very generous donor who has a strong belief in the power of education to change lives and has committed to sponsoring five girls to get through higher secondary education. The next report will cover how the girls did in their exams and what will be their future plans.

Currently, Nepal Village Foundation sponsors ninety-seven girls through the Girls’ Education Project in Saptari, Nepal to receive a formal education. Fifty-seven of the girls are in basic education, thirty-three in secondary and seven in higher secondary.

The twelve girls who took the final secondary education examination last year, have received the result. Two of the girls are willing to study higher secondary education and, we are discussing about it with their parents for the possibility and feasibility. The remaining ten girls will not be able to study further because of the result and they don’t have their parents’ support.

Our target was/is to support the girls from poor and Dalit families to get through the secondary education and, for that we have an agreement with the girls and with their parents. So anything after that, it’s a choice of the girls, their parents and, also depending on the result.  

To study higher secondary education is expensive, the curriculums demand more time and effort and, the college that offers the course are far. The higher secondary education is a two years course and in total for the two years it costs between £650 and £450 depending on the faculty. To study science faculty is the most expensive.

So, we only consider to support the girls if someone is willing to sponsor them for the whole two years. Currently, seven girls are being sponsored to study higher secondary education. If anyone can afford to sponsor the girls, then please get in touch through our website.