UNICEF Nepal: Seema's story

Seema’s story EMPOWERING ADOLESCENT GIRLS FOR SCHOOL SUCCESS

Schools for Asia

Nepal

EMPOWERING ADOLESCENT GIRLS FOR SCHOOL SUCCESS

Siyarahi settlement

2 UNICEF Nepal

Nepal has demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All. Nationwide, access to primary education has improved at all levels, especially for girls. In 2000, for every 100 boys enrolled in primary school there were only 78 girls enrolled. In 2012, for every 100 boys, 102 girls were enrolled. But as they move on to secondary school, girls—particularly those with limited economic means— face obstacles to continuing their education.

In the coming years (2013-17) UNICEF Nepal will focus its efforts on the 15 districts in the country where education performance indicators are lowest.

These largely poor, remote districts are characterized by low rates of enrolment, high rates of repetition and drop out, and high gender disparity in enrolment in the upper grades. They are also marked by cultural practices that hinder girls’ empowerment and gender equality. Girls living in these districts are highly disadvantaged both in terms of access to education and educational attainment, and most disadvantaged of all are the girls from Nepal’s lowest caste, the Dalits.

The traditional organisation of Hindu society groups people according to their hereditary occupations into a hierarchy of social groups known as ‘castes’. In Nepal, the lowest rung on the social ladder has traditionally been occupied by menial labourers and artisans—formerly known as ‘untouchables’, but now known as ‘Dalits’ or ‘crushed peoples’.

All castes have been treated equally under the law since the 1960s, but social discrimination still occurs and a class divide persists in which Dalits are generally more socially and economically disadvantaged than members of higher castes. Among Dalit girls aged 5-14 in UNICEF’s target districts, 25 per cent have never attended school; those who do attend are far more likely to

drop out due to poor performance or for reasons related to poverty, including the need to help at home or to get married.

In the following pages, you will meet 15-year-old Seema Bishokarma, a ninth grade student at the government secondary school at Siyarahi Settlement, in the plains district of Parsa. Seema is also a Dalit, as her last name indicates (Bishokarma means ‘blacksmith’). Her school is piloting a UNICEF initiative that provides extracurricular programmes for adolescent girls with the aim of improving their low rates of school participation. This takes the form of two clubs: a peer support tuition/homework club and a sports club that offers girls the chance to play football and/or volleyball.

The clubs are for girls only, and they give priority to Dalits and other disadvantaged girls.

Currently being piloted in 20 schools across two districts, these programmes have been running for less than a year, but are already showing remarkable results. Rupak Panday, Head of Parsa’s NGO Coordinating Committee, and UNICEF’s partner in implementing the project, explains: “Until recently, many Dalit girls did not attend school regularly, so their performance suffered. They felt shame and low self confidence in school, which put them at greater risk of dropping out. The tuition/homework club fills gaps in their learning and gives them confidence in their abilities. The sports club empowers them and provides them with positive recognition. Now these girls want to come to school and they do well.” But the changes don’t stop there: “Parents are starting to see that their daughters can do something if they are given a chance, teachers no longer focus on the boys in class, and the girls are happy to be treated as equals,” says Panday. “There has been a social revolution.

These girls have proved to everyone what they can do.”

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 3

My name is Seema Bishokarma. I am 15 years old. I live in Siyarahi Settlement, Madhuban Mathual Village Development Committee, in Parsa, a district in the southern plains of Nepal. Like many here, we are Dalits, from Nepal’s lowest caste. My father is the village blacksmith and my mother is a housewife. I have a younger brother and sister. Both of them are in primary school. I study in grade nine. I love to dance and sing and play football and be with my friends. One day I want to be a social worker.

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 5

6 UNICEF Nepal

05:25

05:32 After

I wake up I wash my face and then I wash the dishes.

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 7

05:44 I

quickly eat dal (lentil soup) and a roti (bread) for breakfast then meet my friends on the road.

05:47 Seema:

Good morning, Jyoti! Jyoti: Good morning! Did you do your homework?

Seema: Yes, but it wasn’t easy. I was really tired after football practice yesterday.

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 9

05:52 Hurry

up! we’re going to be late for assembly.

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05:53

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06:16 School

starts early in the Summer because it gets so hot in the afternoon. No matter what season it is we have assembly. Most mornings we just exercise and sing the national anthem.

06:24 Sometimes

we have a special assembly where students get to perform. Today it’s our turn. My friends and I have been practicing a dance from a Nepali film we saw on TV.

06:22 14 UNICEF Nepal

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 15

06:29 At

the assembly, I also get to sing my favorite song. It’s also from a Nepali film and it is about being a Dalit.

There’s no lamp that lights this lonely temple.

Don’t come close to me. You can’t accept water that has been touched by me.

I’m living with others’ hate. How can I erase what has been written by fate?

I am a drop of early morning dew, not holy water from the temple.

Don’t come close to me. You can’t accept water that has been touched by me.

I don’t have any friends except my own shadow.

I don’t understand what lies behind caste.

Don’t come close to me. You can’t accept water that has been touched by me.

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NEPAL’S CASTE SYSTEM “I like this song a lot. There is one word in it—’hate’—that really touches my heart, but all of the lyrics apply to me. They are about what happens if you are untouchable—what happens to me. If you are a Dalit and you go to community gatherings, people tell you to move back, stay separate, don’t mix with the others. Once, in my old school, we had a picnic and one of my teachers told me to go sit alone, away from the others. I was the only one she said this to. But the most disturbing thing happened when I was eleven. I went to my mother’s family home and my uncle took me to a big temple there. I saw some people beating a man and I asked my uncle why they were beating him. My uncle wouldn’t say, but we left very quickly. When we got home, he said: ‘That temple is for higher caste people and that man they were beating was from a lower caste. We too are low caste, so we left. I didn’t want anything to happen to us.’ I found this really shocking. It bothered me a lot.”

—Seema

“Just five years ago, Dalit children had to sit in the back of the class. If they spoke in front of the higher caste students, those students would say, ‘Hey, do you have the capacity to speak here?’ and the Dalits would stop talking. People didn’t touch them or take food from them. Then came the Maoists. They said everyone has the right to live as an equal.

That anyone can be anything. That all children must go to school. The Dalits themselves have also become more conscious. They have seen that other castes are hungry for education—that education leads to change.”

—Akhilesh Pandey, Teacher and Coordinator of the Girls’ Peer Support Tuition/Homework Club Schools for Asia Seema’s story 17

DALIT GIRLS AND SCHOOLING

How does UNICEF help?

“We are working to get our community’s most disadvantaged children into school and to help them succeed. Last year, UNICEF worked with us to analyse records of our students’ achievement tests over time. There was a clear pattern. Students living below the poverty line—especially Dalit girls—were very weak academically compared to the other students.

They were also the most likely to be absent and to drop out—whether to help at home or to get married.

“We have taken measures to get them into school. At the end of the Welcome to School campaign we looked at who enrolled and started making home visits to those who did not. We counseled the parents— many of whom are illiterate themselves and may not recognise the value of education—about the importance of sending their children to school and informed them about scholarships that could help them buy school uniforms and, in some cases, school materials.

“Making sure they stay in school requires other measures. When students fall behind, they are at risk of dropping out. UNICEF supported us in setting up a tuition/homework club. It helps girls to catch up and it helps them feel more confident and comfortable in school. At the same time, we set up football and volleyball clubs—which is something entirely new for girls. These have really empowered them. Now they are active—not just watching the boys play like they did before. Playing sports gives them a sort of recognition. Together, these programmes are bringing big changes to the classroom. Girls want to come to school. Not only do they attend regularly, they participate; they ask questions and express their opinions. Their learning is more meaningful now.”

—Bhagwat Prasad Tharu, Head Teacher 18 UNICEF Nepal

Providing innovative needs-based solutions UNICEF is known for its innovative needs-based programming and evidenced-based advocacy. In 2004 UNICEF Nepal initiated the Welcome to School (WTS) campaign in just 13 districts as a means of supporting the government’s commitment to the Education For All goals. The annual month-long awareness raising campaign and enrollment drive was so successful that in 2006 it was mainstreamed by the government as a national campaign, resulting in 500,000 additional children enrolling in school in that year alone.

Peer support tuition/homework and sports clubs for adolescent girls are now being piloted in 20 schools in two districts. By the end of 2013, UNICEF will expand the programme to 100 schools, and to more in subsequent years. By demonstrating the effectiveness of these activities in increasing the enrolment and attendance of adolescent girls, UNICEF aims to convince the village-level, districtlevel, and eventually the national-level government to include these activities in their education plans and budget.

06:42

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06:48 There are many more girls in my class than boys. If they can afford it, parents send their boys to private school. They think they will get a better education there.

“These days, it is usually girls that stand first in the class. They know they need to work hard in school because if they don’t do well, their parents may force them to stop. The boys, on the other hand, know they will be sent to school, no matter how little they work.”

—Akhilesh Pandey, Teacher and Coordinator of the Girls’ Peer Support Tuition/Homework Club

How does UNICEF help?

Equity in education UNICEF, in collaboration with other partners, has supported the government in introducing scholarships for disadvantaged children, including girls. As a result, many more girls are now in school. Currently UNICEF is supporting the government in developing a comprehensive strategy for education that examines issues of access, quality and retention in order to come up with recommendations on how to strengthen equity.

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 21

EARLY MARRIAGE “Some girls in the Dalit community are engaged when they are very young, especially if the family is poor. After their engagement, many drop out of school. ‘Why invest in sending her to school?’ her parents think. ‘In a few years she will go to live in her husband’s house. We need to teach her the things she needs to be successful there: cooking, cleaning, looking after children.’ Plus, if she goes to school there is always the risk that she might ‘go with’ boys or be attacked, thereby bringing shame on the family and putting an end to her marriage prospects.”

—Bhagwat Prasad Tharu, Head Teacher

“One girl I knew was engaged when she was five years old. At 15 she got married and went to her husband’s house and had to stop going to school. My auntie, who is about my age, is also married. My grandparents were poor so she didn’t have a choice. Now she no longer goes to school. Sometimes I worry that my parents might take me out of school to have me get married. My mom always says ‘You can continue your education for as long as you want,’ but I worry that she might change her mind due to pressure from the neighbours or our relatives. My father is very supportive of me going to school. I don’t worry about him— except that if something happens to make my mother change her mind she might be able to convince him to change his as well.”

—Seema 22 UNICEF Nepal

07:55

09:13 At

break time we stop to talk with Sunita Didi (older sister).

How does UNICEF help?

Young Champions In Nepal, education is a profession that is dominated by men. What’s more, many communities have few, if any, models of young women who have been successful in education. The Young Champions for Education programme engages young people for their own development and the development of their communities. In Nepal, UNICEF has been supporting this program in seven districts where girls’ enrolment and attendance rates are low.

Through this program, young role models, preferably women, are selected from the

ROLE MODELS “Last year, a woman from the District Development Committee came to my house. She told me, ‘You are the most educated woman in this village and yet you are just staying home doing household chores when you could be a role model for girls who are in school.’ She asked me to apply for UNICEF’s Young Champions Programme.

“Previously I had tried to motivate my neighbours to send their girls to school. But they would say to me, ‘Look at you. You’ve completed grade 12 and you are still a housewife, so what does it really matter if we send our daughters to school? What use is education to a girl?’ I didn’t have an answer for them. Now that I am here and working in the school as a Young Champion, it’s easy to motivate them. I just use my own example.”

—Sunita Chowdhary, Young Champion

community to support schools and to monitor the enrolment and attendance of students. They also advocate for girls’ education in their communities and support the tuition/ homework and sports clubs for adolescent girls.

“If we can produce even 10-20 role models in one school, then the whole community will understand the need to empower their daughters and start sending them to school.”

—Rupak Bandya, Project Director, NGO Coordinating Committee, Parsa Schools for Asia Seema’s story 25

10:07 Social Science is my favorite subject. The teacher asks us to work in groups to discuss the question ‘In what matters should you seek advice from a doctor or nurse?’ 26 UNICEF Nepal

10:18 After

we come up with our answers each group sends someone up to share our thoughts with the class. Our group focused on cases in which you have a sick child.

“There are lots of social problems in our community, for example, alcoholic fathers who beat their wives and also families that discriminate against their daughters and don’t send them to school. One day, I want to be a social worker and change these things.”

—Seema Schools for Asia Seema’s story 27

11:03 In

English class we are learning about the different forms of conditional sentences. I like the teacher. He makes us laugh. But most of us still think English is difficult.

“In the classroom, I only have 40 minutes a day to teach 100 students. I try my best, but there is no way I can give time to all of those who need it.”

—Akhilesh Pandey, Teacher and Coordinator of the Girls’ Peer Support Tuition/Homework Club 28 UNICEF Nepal

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 29

EDUCATION MATTERS “I am illiterate and my husband studied to class five. I was sent to school but I wasn’t interested, so I sold all of my books and used that money to buy ice cream. When my father found out what I had done, he got very angry and told me I was not going to school anymore. I was 10 years old when he sent me to Kathmandu, to live with one of our relatives and work as a carpet weaver. Eventually I realised that I should have stayed in school. Sometimes I feel like going back, but because of my age, my children, and my family responsibilities I feel I can’t. I also feel ashamed. I would like to be able to read and write, even just the signboards in town.

“Being illiterate has caused us a lot of problems. We don’t have much income. What we earn pays for two meals a day with nothing left over.

If we had studied to class eight or ten we could be earning a lot more.

“The culture is changing. Education is far more important now. That’s why our children’s education is our main priority. I am encouraging my daughters to study at least until they get their school leaving certificate (at the end of grade ten). How far they go beyond that depends on their talents and abilities. Seema has participated in many competitions— dance, school, sports—and she always comes up with a great success.

She is also very focused, intelligent and serious in her studies. So we will see. I have to consider her wishes because it is her future. If she wants a job, that’s fine. If she wants to keep studying, that’s fine. I am not going to make her stop and get married. I want her to first stand on her own two feet. Then she can get married.”

—Bimala Bishokarma, Seema’s mother 30 UNICEF Nepal

12:10 In

the summer school ends at 11:30. My brother and sister and I all come home and eat lunch with my mother (centre).

13:34 Back

at school I hang around with my friends until Tuition Club starts. We sing, practice dancing and talk about homework and sports.

How does UNICEF help?

Piloting and expansion of girls’ clubs Before piloting the peer-tuition/homework and sports clubs in 2012, UNICEF proposed broad guidelines on the activities to the schools, and each school decided the details

“As for the tuition programme, whatever she asks, I try my best to make her free so she can go. I can’t say I am aware of exactly what changes this programme has brought for her, but I trust her.

If she wants to go, that’s fine with me.”

—Bimala Bishokarma, Seema’s mother 32 UNICEF Nepal

such as when and how often the activities would be conducted. In the future, UNICEF will hold regular reviews of these activities to determine which model works best. The lessons learned will be reflected in the new guidelines as the activities continue to be expanded to more schools.

14:05

14:31

THE PEER SUPPORT TUITION/HOMEWORK CLUB “The tuition and homework club has made me a better student. It is important for girls to have this because many are weak in the classroom and don’t participate. They are shy. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because their parents tell them not to speak too much because they are girls.”

—Seema

“I offer tuition in English three afternoons a week. Another teacher offers tuition in science and maths. Most of the girls in the programme are Dalits. They are here because their parents are not educated and they are poor—which means they don’t get the support they need to continue their education. They get scolded; their families don’t have money to provide the pens and papers they need to do their schoolwork; they have a lot of chores and little time to do their schoolwork; and they don’t get any help with it. In the classroom, they used to be shy due to the gaps in their knowledge. They would sit in class thinking ‘What if the teacher calls on me? I don’t know the answers.’ Then when they got poor results their parents say ‘Why should I keep sending you to school? You aren’t doing well anyway. Just quit and help us out at home.’

“That’s why the peer support tuition and homework programme is very important for them. They get two hours of a teacher’s time, guaranteed.

And their parents—who may not have enough money even for food— don’t have to pay for it. It has only been running for six months, but now these girls are talking openly in class with the teachers and their peers, they are asking questions and getting the support they need.”

—Akhilesh Pandey, Teacher and Coordinator of the Girls’ Peer Support Tuition/Homework Club Schools for Asia Seema’s story 35

15:04 We

work together in groups to do the exercises.

“Every day I put the students into groups of five: two talented students, one moderately weak student and two who are very weak. Then I teach them about a particular topic—for example, today we are learning about reported speech—and have them work on a particular exercise as a group. Group representatives come to the front of the class and work with others and with me to check their work. I set it up this way so that the girls can help each other learn. The friendly competition between the groups motivates them, and because they also have to talk with the teacher, they no longer feel shy and are happy to participate in class.”

—Akhilesh Pandey, Teacher and Coordinator of the Girls’ Peer Support Tuition/Homework Club 36 UNICEF Nepal

15:23

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 37

GIRLS’ SPORTS CLUBS “Before this intervention girls were not involved in sports. People would say, ‘This is not our culture.’ Girls running, jumping and moving like boys was socially unacceptable. So when the school first introduced this programme with volleyball and football, it wasn’t easy to convince the parents to allow their daughters to play. The uniform in particular was a big hurdle. A generation ago, women were expected to cover themselves from head to toe. They are no longer expected to cover their heads, but they must at least cover the rest. Those who wear revealing clothes are considered vulgar and unacceptable for marriage. But linking these programmes to the school allowed us to overcome both of these challenges. With teachers coaching the teams and supporting the girls, it was easier to convince people that it was okay.

“This programme has been running for less than a year but I have already seen lots of positive results. One of the most important is social inclusion. There are both Dalits and non-Dalits that participate. Playing sports together has made them more friendly with and supportive of one another. This environment is also appreciated by their parents and the wider community. Because of it, the whole concept of ‘untouchability’ is diminishing.

“This socially conducive environment has also created positive support in the learning environment. Those who need help have started asking for support from other students and the teachers. The girls are actively participating in class, and most important, because they are playing sports they want to come to school, which means they attend regularly.”

—Ramesh Prasad, Teacher and Coordinator of the Girls’ Sports Clubs 38 UNICEF Nepal

16:17

16:12 We

make two teams and play on the village pitch. We all still feel a bit strange in these uniforms.

When I asked my parents about joining the sports club they were very supportive. They didn’t mind at all about the uniform. However, we do have to be careful in front of society. Many of us still wear our trousers tucked up under our shorts. It just feels more modest that way.

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16:12 We

have shirts and shorts but the uniform doesn’t come with shoes, and none of us owns sports shoes, so we play in bare feet.

Sometimes my feet really hurt, but mostly it just means we can’t kick the ball so well.

THE VIEW FROM THE SIDELINES: WHAT THE BOYS HAVE TO SAY What do you think about girls playing football?

“It’s not good. They wear short pants.”

Why is that “not good”?

“This is not our culture. It is not acceptable. After some years we may come to accept it, but probably not in our generation.”

What do you think about the tuition and homework club?

“Both clubs should be open to boys too.”

Do you understand why it is only for girls?

“The girls are lagging behind—and they are shy.”

Do you think these activities help with that?

“Could be.”

Which do you prefer, girls who are shy or those who participate?

“The active girls that participate.”

Why? “Because they can improve our society. If a girl is active she can rear her children in a better way and society can change.”

16:38 Lots

of people from the village come out to watch us play, including some of the boys from school. They laugh when we make mistakes, but they also cheer for us when we play well. I’m glad they come.

But do you want society to change? More equality may mean men have to do more work at home.

“Look at a bicycle. If it has only one wheel, it won’t function. Similarly, society cannot function with only one sex doing all the work. For our society, our country, we need to educate our women.”

Do you all agree?

“Yes. But change comes slowly. Development starts with the individual.

If two people start to develop, in time all men and women will develop.”

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 43

“Some people say girls like us should be learning skills like making handicrafts that will allow us to earn money one day. I agree that it is important to be able to stand on your own two feet, but earning money isn’t everything. If you are good at sports you get honour and prestige, and that sort of recognition is important too. Sports activities make you feel good about yourself and because of this feeling you do better in school as well. When I play a game and people clap I feel so good. I feel so encouraged. I feel confident that I can do something worthwhile.”

—Seema

16:56 I

get everything I need from a game of football: exercise, time with friends, the chance to learn from others and recognition. Whether it is sports or singing or dancing or schoolwork, when you feel you are good at something that’s what you want to do.

How does UNICEF help?

Creating change for girls and their communities To support the sports club activities, UNICEF provides equipment, including volleyball nets and balls, footballs, badminton sets, and jerseys. UNICEF also supports inter-school sports matches to encourage friendly competition among the girls. These often become major community events where many community members witness girls playing sports—perhaps the first time they have ever seen such a thing in their lives.

Schools for Asia Seema’s story 45

17:43 My

father worked all day today building a latrine. He is also a blacksmith. When I get home my mother is helping him finish a project he is working on for someone in the village.

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18:04 While they are working, I help make dinner. The skills I learn in sports club are useful in lots of other situations, for example, cooperating with others in a game is a lot like working with my mother or my sister in the kitchen to cook a meal. In football it feels good when you work together to score a goal. There is a sense of joint achievement--a lot like when all of us work together to complete a task at home.

20:10 After

doing my homework I go to bed.

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The education and empowerment of girls creates a better future for the girls themselves, and beyond that for their families, communities and nations.

UNICEF is working with the government, local education authorities and NGOs in Nepal to support the country’s most vulnerable adolescent girls in developing the skills and confidence they need to continue their education and achieve their dreams.

www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia

ABOUT UNICEF UNICEF’s goal is to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

All children have rights that guarantee them what they need to survive, grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet every day these rights are denied. Millions of children die from preventable diseases. Millions more don’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter and clean water. Children suffer from violence, abuse and discrimination. This is wrong.

UNICEF works globally to transform children’s lives by protecting and promoting their rights. Their fight for child survival and development takes place every day in remote villages and in bustling cities, in peaceful areas and in regions destroyed by war, in places reachable by train or car and in terrain passable only by camel or donkey.

Their achievements are won school by school, child by child, vaccine by vaccine, mosquito net by mosquito net. It is a struggle in which success is measured by what doesn't happen—by what is prevented.

UNICEF will continue this fight—to make the difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

To fund all of its work UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations from individuals, governments, institutions and corporations. We receive no money from the UN budget.

UNICEF Nepal

PO Box 1187 UN House Pulchowk Kathmandu NEPAL Tel : + (977) 1-5523 200 Fax: + (977) 1-5527 280

Following the success of Schools for Africa, in January 2012 UNICEF launched the Schools for Asia initiative:

www.unicef.org/nepal Photography, writing and design: Kelley Lynch

www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia