OUTCOME REPORT ON CHILD LED RESEARCH ON INCLUSION AND SAFETY IN SCHOOL Loo Niva Child Concern Group Lalitpur Nepal List of Abbreviations CBR Community Based Rehabilitation CC Child Club CWD Children with Disability/ies DRR Disaster Risk Reduction FGD Focused Group Discussion ILO International Labour Organization IMR Infant Mortality Rate MMR Maternal Mortality Rate NGO Non-Governmental Organization PTA Parents-Teachers Association SMC School Management Committee SS Secondary School UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child VDC Village Development Committee Acknowledgements It was a matter of pride and pleasure insights provided by all child respondents to take the assignment for preparing are the foundation of this report, I am a research report on the Child Led very much thankful to them. Research: Inclusion and Safety in School. Once again, I am very much thankful to I would like to thank Loo Niva Child all the supporting people, interviewees, Concern Group for trusting me and my FGD participants and Loo Niva engaged team to take this assignment. The role of for making it possible for coming up with the program officers and coordinators this report and providing considerable in facilitating and guiding this research amount of time to develop it. throughout and their involvement in the data collection process is quite appreciable. I would also like to thank all the selected school authorities, SMC, teachers and principals for cooperating with the research tools. All the child researchers Mr. Narendra Dangol who conducted this research are the Executive Director main actors. The time, information and Loo Niva Child Concern Group, Lalitpur Table of Contents List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Table of Contents Executive Summary 1. Introduction 2. Findings 2.1 Findings from the Identification of Inclusion and Safety Issues: Forms and Practices of Discrimination, Safety and Violence in selected schools 3. Recommendations 3.1 For the issues of Safety of the Children 3.2 For the issues of Violence affecting the Children 3.3 For the issues of Inclusion in school Annex 1: Case Studies Executive Summary The child researchers identified the issues of lots of games and extracurricular activities. discrimination, safety and violence during Most of the participants of the interviews affirmed the research process. The major forms of the prevalence of the children’s consultation practice discrimination identified by the child researchers and their counseling. There are parents gathering, and the responses of the participants about these meetings and interaction between parents and issues were; discrimination against children with teachers. Similarly, students are consulted at the disability, based on learning skills, based on caste, times of activities like construction, educational gender and religion, based on physical structure tours, cultural programs, sports, social audits, etc. and facial color and inequality in the involvement When asked about the practice of counseling the in the extracurricular activities. interviewees said that the children are counseled On the safety issue, child researchers have listed occasionally. They are oriented about cleanliness, playgrounds, classroom materials like benches and safe drinking water, DRR, child club planning, desks, ladders, path towards their schools, doors SMC meeting, discussions on safety and positive and windows, building, toilet, school gate, etc. behavior, etc. They have stated that the playgrounds are unsafe Some of the recommended actions suggested by the as there are heaps of reconstruction materials. teachers and child researchers are that the schools Similarly, about the behavior of the behaviors of should have wall built around the premise for the teachers with the CWD, the respondents shared secured compound, constructing disabled friendly that they call names, not love them and not be physical infrastructure (toilets, taps, classroom supportive enough in their learning processes. furniture, and stairs), proper management of About the kinds of behaviors they would like to basic amenities like clean drinking water and experience from the teachers, the girls and boys gender friendly toilets. Similarly, there should shared that they would like to experience equal be enough water to clean the toilet, adoption of treatment, motivating attitude, no corporal safety measures and education on DRR to reduce punishment and good learning environment with the damage of natural disasters. 1. Inclusion and Safety in Schools Introduction Students feel positively connected with each exists here. The children who belong to the lower other and the system in a safe, caring and equal caste (Dalit community) face discrimination on school environment. They feel respected and they day to day basis within and outside the household, are good in what they do if such environment is in the community and in their school. Despite ensured. Everyone has a role to play in building a the country providing free basic education, safe and inclusive school environment. the retention is not satisfactory in which discrimination based on various factors plays one Nepal is a multi-cultural with greater power of the main roles. Furthermore, children with distance within the individuals. We have disability in the complex geographical and socio- hierarchical social system. The caste system still cultural system face exclusion and issues of safety 1 to greater extent. The remote hill areas of Nepal Lalitpur district. The process involved children with difficult land topography pose threat to the from the same area as the lead researchers who people residing in these areas. Massive earthquake are also the active members of the child clubs. of 2015 and the extensive reconstruction activities They were involved in the identification of issues, following the incident have had adverse impacts data collection, data analysis, and data verification on the students regarding their safety. Besides process. these obvious safety issues, there are/could be the certain areas within the school premises The overall objectives of the research were as affecting the learning and overall physical and follows: psychosocial development of the children. • To help children understand the situation Without addressing the reading and learning of their and other children’s inclusion and opportunities for all children irrespective of their safety in school and provide physical, intellectual, social, economic, cultural recommendations to the policy makers. and linguistic backgrounds, the education system • To prepare children as the active change cannot be considered inclusive, safe and in favor makers for the assurance of inclusion and of children’s right to education. safety in school. In this light, Loo Niva Child Concern Group in collaboration with Patan CBR and Interpedia Finland carried out the Child Led Research in the topic “Inclusion and Safety in School” in two rural municipalities; Bagmati and Mahankal in Southern part of Lalitpur. These are the earthquake affected and geographically remote areas of 2 2. Findings of the Study 2.1. Findings from the Identification of Rural Forms of Actors Victims No. of Municipality discrimination responses Inclusion and Safety Issues: Forms and Boys Girls Practices of Discrimination, Safety and Discrimination Friends and Friends and 5 5 Violence in selected schools based on height classmates classmates Discrimination Friends, Dalit friends 8 15 based on caste teachers and The different forms and practices in both safety community and inclusion issues were identified by the child Discrimination Teachers, Students scoring 6 12 1 based on students, less in exams participants in the selected schools of two rural learning skills neighbors Discrimination Friends, Children with 12 11 municipalities. The child researchers prioritized Bagmati against CWD teachers and disability the most prevalent forms as per the responses of community Discrimination Students and Students 7 8 the child participants. based on community belonging to the economic status belonging poor families to the rich A. Inclusion in the Selected Schools of families 2 Discrimination Friends Students and 4 8 Bagmati Rural Municipality based on facial class mates color The responses on the discriminatory practices that Discrimination Senior Junior students 5 7 based on age students, exclude the children along with list of the involved class mates, actors and affected victims in the selected schools community of Bagmati are presented in the table below: The above table suggests that the discrimination based on caste where Dalit children are treated Table 1. The details of the forms of discrimination unequally has the high prevalence in Bagmati rural as per the responses of boys and girls in Bagmati municipality as it got the total responses of twenty rural municipality three (eight boys and fifteen girls). Similarly, the 1The detailed description about the selected schools in both the municipalities are provided in the Process Report. Outcome Report only presents the findings of the research. 2The study was conducted in Ashrang, Malta, Pyutar and Gimdee in Bagmati rural municipality. The details of the number of wards and schools distributed across these places are given in the process report. 3 same number of responses is given by the children Table 2. The details of the forms of discrimination on the prevalence of discrimination against CWD as per the responses of boys and girls in i.e. twenty three (twelve boys and eleven