Gender Discrimination and Children's Right To
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BASNET, LILA DHOAJ BASNET, LILA DHOAJ GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN NEPAL PERSPECTIVES OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN Master’s thesis, Master’s MPhil in Childhood Studies GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN NEPAL EDUCATION AND CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO GENDER DISCRIMINATION MASTER’S THESIS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF NTNU PHILOSOPHY (MPHIL) IN CHILDHOOD STUDIES Trondheim, November 2013 Norwegian Centre for Child Research for Centre Norwegian Norwegian University of Science and Technology of Science University Norwegian Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management Management and Technology of Social Sciences Faculty BASNET, LILA DHOAJ GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN NEPAL: PERSPECTIVES OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN MASTER’S THESIS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY (MPHIL) IN CHILDHOOD STUDIES. NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT NORWEGIAN CENTRE FOR CHILD RESEARCH (NOSEB) NOVEMBER, 2013 i Acknowledgement First of all, I am immensely indebted to my supervisor, Associate Professor Tatek Abebe for his insightful comments, valuable directions and inspiration. Without his regular support, I am certain that the thesis would not have been completed. Likewise, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all staff of Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Prof. Randi Nilsen, Associate Prof. Anne Trine Kjørholt and Associate Prof. Vebjørg Tingstad. I am also thankful to the professors who taught me different courses and offered guidance to expand knowledge that has helped me produce this work. I would also like to thank to my classmates who made comments on different parts of thesis during the seminars. And many thanks to all the administrative staff at the NOSEB, programme co-ordinator Line Hellem in particular, for facilitating my studies at the NOSEB. Similarly, I am grateful to the children of Jana Sewa Secondary School in Sarlahi, Nepal, who voluntarily shared their knowledge and experiences pertaining to Gender Discrimination and Children’s right to education in order to write my thesis. I am also equally thankful to the adult participants who provided me with information on various gender discourses prevailed in Nepalese society. In addition, special thank goes to my respected school teacher Mr.Hira Bahadur Lama for the important role in finding target population during my research period. Lastly, I am very much grateful to Mr. Anup Khanal for his technical support in finalizing this work. ii Abstract Gender discrimination is considered as problematic issues for promoting equality and attainment of universal rights of children especially, in south Asia. In Nepal, where a patriarchal system of social relations predominates, parental preference inclines to the male child and is reflected in the socio-cultural practices, status and economic potentiality associated. Yet, such preference tends to negatively influence the girls' educational right, welfare, health and survival opportunities. This study focuses on how boys and girls receive different allocation of resources within the family based on existing socio-cultural practices in Sarlahi district. It explores the impact of prevailing cultural values and gender discourses in schooling of children together with intra-household resource allocation from children’s and adult’s perspectives. Furthermore, the study examines the implications of the socio-cultural perspective of child work combined with schooling in the rural parts of Nepal. The study is drawn on the theoretical perspectives of the new social studies of children and childhood viewing children as independent, competent social actors having their own rights and perspectives. Qualitative fieldwork was carried out among the children of diverse socio- economic backgrounds involving multiple methods of data collection: observation, interview, essay writing and focus group discussion. Research participants primarily included 20 children (10 boys and 10 girls) of 12-16 years age. In addition, 5 parents and 5 teachers between 37-52 years old were also included as adult participants. The empirical materials were analyzed qualitatively. The study found out that young girls were more disadvantaged in comparison to their male counterparts. These disadvantages encompass all aspects of their life including intra-household resource distribution in terms of health and nutrition, pocket money, play and entertainment. However, the study also reveals that girl’s rather inferior position in resource allocation is shaped by such factors as age, and birth order within siblings. With reference to schooling, young girls were mainly discriminated against quality of education. It means all the children (both boys and girls) attended school but the discrimination was magnified in terms school they enrolled and the quality of education they received. Boys attend boarding schools that of superior quality than the government schools, where most girls were enrolled. Parental education and attitudes had negative impact on girls schooling. Gender discrimination against girls in schooling was mainly affected by the socio- cultural factors such as pro-male bias, household work burden, unequal access and expected returns in the labor market, educational costs, accessibility and proximity to the school and iii religious factors. Yet, children continue to make significant contribution in the family livelihoods with routine and non-routine forms of household tasks beside their schooling activities. iv Table of content Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... iii Table of content .......................................................................................................................... v List of figures .......................................................................................................................... viii List of tables .............................................................................................................................. ix List of acronyms ......................................................................................................................... x 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Context ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Aims of the research .................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Research questions ...................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................. 5 1.4 Organization of the Thesis ........................................................................................... 6 2 Background of the study ..................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Geographical context of Nepal .................................................................................... 7 2.2 Political history of Nepal: ............................................................................................ 9 2.3 Socio-economic context ............................................................................................ 11 2.4 Research site .............................................................................................................. 13 2.5 Literacy and Education .............................................................................................. 17 2.6 Education System in Nepal ........................................................................................ 18 2.7 Legal provision and instruments to fight against gender discrimination ................... 20 2.8 Gender and Child work .............................................................................................. 21 3 Theoretical perspectives .................................................................................................... 23 3.1 The New Social Studies of Childhood ...................................................................... 23 3.2 Childhood as Socially Constructed ............................................................................ 24 3.3 Children as social actors ............................................................................................ 25 3.4 Children’s Rights and Children’s unpaid household Work ....................................... 26 3.5 Children and Work: key debates ............................................................................... 27 3.5.1 The perspective of work-free childhood(s) ........................................................ 28 3.5.2 Socio-cultural perspectives ................................................................................ 30 3.5.3 The political economy perspective ..................................................................... 31 3.6 Gendered division of household work and distinct responsibilities .......................... 32 v 3.7 Large households and responsibility burden ............................................................