Innocenti Research Brief 2020-19 Bringing Education to the Most Marginalized Girls in Nepal: Evidence from the Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) programme Let Us Learn: Nepal research brief Cirenia Chávezi, Annika Rigoleii, Purnima Gurungiii, Dilli Prasad Paudeliii and Bimala Manandhariv i UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, Florence ii UNICEF, Programme Division, Education, New York iii UNICEF Nepal Country Office, Kathmandu iv UNICEF Nepal, Janakpur ABOUT THE GATE PROGRAMME KEY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS In Nepal, 640,329 children and adolescents of primary and secondary school age were out-of-school in 2019, Expand the Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) equivalent to 9 per cent of the primary and secondary non-formal education programme, which school-aged population, according to United Nations targets the most marginalized girls, to other Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization provinces in Nepal. Once enrolled, 95 per (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS) UIS.Stat website (http://data.uis.unesco.org).2 The majority of out-of- cent of GATE girls in participating provinces school children are concentrated in the districts of the complete the programme, and 89 per cent Terai region, where the GATE programme operates.3 of participants make the transition to formal school. GATE graduates enrolled in Grades 3 to GATE is a non-formal education programme that aims 5 in formal schools outperform non-GATE girls to get the most marginalized adolescent girls in Nepal enrolled in the same grades. back to school. The nine-month programme provides out-of-school adolescent girls with the basic literacy, Explore the feasibility of expanding GATE, as numeracy and life skills they need to (re)enter formal a cost-effective programme, to target out-of- schooling. Participating girls learn foundational skills school children in other countries. Cost per and also study topics relevant to the context, GATE participant is estimated at $76, lower including child marriage, gender-based violence and than the estimated annual cost per student in reproductive health. This research brief provides a public primary school in Nepal ($245).1 snapshot of GATE efforts. The findings below draw on GATE monitoring data for 2018/19, for a sample of Provide financial support to girls who 7,394 GATE beneficiaries in five districts of Nepal: successfully make the transition from the GATE Dhanusha, Mahottari, Parsa, Rautahat and Saptari. programme to formal school. GATE graduates Insights from these quantitative data are combined revealed struggles in making the transition to with qualitative evidence drawn from case studies of formal school, with a few girls mentioning that participating girls and from focus group discussions their families had found it difficult to pay for conducted in 2019 with 12 former GATE participants. school fees, uniforms and supplies. This research brief is one of a series of country research Address the stigmatization of GATE learners in briefs presenting evidence on the achievements of the formal schools. Girls from certain ethnic groups Let Us Learn programme, which supports quality face discrimination by other students, and even learning opportunities for disadvantaged children in five countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Liberia, by teachers, in formal school classrooms. Madagascar and Nepal). The programmes supported by 1 Unless otherwise stated, all amounts shown are in US dollars. 2 These figures show some progress, as the UIS.Stat website shows that in 2017 the number of children and adolescents of primary and secondary school age who were out of school was 835,401, equivalent to 11.3 per cent of the primary and secondary school-aged population (http://data.uis.unesco.org). 3 The Terai region is home to 65.1 per cent of primary and 78.6 per cent of lower secondary school-aged out-of-school children in Nepal (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, UNICEF & UNESCO, 2016). Innocenti Research Brief 2020-19 Let Us Learn vary according to the challenges facing district had the highest share of girls who had each individual country context, but all initiatives align ever attended school (10.5 per cent). In contrast, in with four equity pillars: (1) access and retention; (2) Dhanusha, none of the girls in the sample had ever quality education; (3) systems strengthening; and (4) attended school (see Figure 1). Sita Sada, a 14-year- disaster risk reduction. old GATE beneficiary from the Dhanusha district, came from a family in which no one had ever learned to read and write.4 In fact, according to a case study FINDINGS on GATE beneficiaries, not a single person in the Most GATE participants had never been Dhanusha district’s Musahar community, to which to school. Sita belongs, had passed Grade 10. The situation in this district is particularly challenging: in 2011, Only a very small proportion of GATE girls had 66,527 girls in Dhanusha were out of school ever attended school (2.9 per cent), although there (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2012). was some variation across the five districts. Saptari Figure 1. Schooling history of GATE participants by district 100% 80% 60% 89.5% 100% 98.6% 97.9% 96.3% 40% % who ever attended 20% % who have never been 0% to school Dhanusha Rautahat Parsa Mahottari Saptari Source: GATE monitoring data. The GATE cohort included girls from five ethnic groups GATE, as a result of having each lost at least one parent typically representing the population of girls more likely when younger. Sajroon, a 15-year-old girl from Saptari to be out of school. For example, only 1.9 per cent of district, was responsible for household chores because girls from the Dalit ethnic group had ever attended her mother went to work outside the home, while her school; the figure is also low among Brahmin/Chhetri sick father was confined to the home. girls, though comparatively higher at 6.6 per cent. None of the girls with disabilities in the sample – 29 girls out Other case studies document parents convinced that, if of the total 7,394 GATE beneficiaries – had ever a girl is educated, her parents will have to find an attended school, suggesting that this is an acutely educated groom for her, raising the value of the dowry marginalized group within a cohort of girls who already that the boy’s family will demand from the girl’s suffer from multiple deprivations. parents. This occurs even though the dowry system has been outlawed in Nepal since 1976 and despite the Poverty, caring for family members at home heavier penalties imposed in 2017 for those who and traditional social norms help to explain why continue the practice. Parents often face social pressure GATE participants had never attended or had to follow traditions and norms discouraging the education of girls. As one parent from Mahottari district previously dropped out of school. explained, “living in this community, we are just under The qualitative data from case studies suggest that so much pressure and burden of responsibility that we poverty, caring responsibilities and parents’ traditional feel compelled to do what everyone else does.” Other views may be important factors in explaining why reasons cited by local palika leaders in the Birgunj GATE girls had never attended school. At least six case municipality (Parsa district) to explain why girls do not studies of GATE beneficiaries, documented from 2016 attend school include child marriage, age differences to 2019, found that girls were confined to household within the classroom (older girls are embarrassed to work prior to their GATE experience. For example, Sita attend the same classes as younger girls) and 5 and Gita from Dhanusha district had both engaged fully menstruation. The leaders explained that the stigma of in household responsibilities prior to enrolment in menstruation caused girls to miss three to five days of 4 All of the names used in this brief are pseudonyms. 5 Palikas are the tertiary-level, and smallest, administrative units of Nepal. 2 Innocenti Research Brief 2020-19 school per month on average, often leading them to Dhanusha district had the lowest completion rate on eventually drop out of school altogether. average (90.3 per cent) while Parsa had the highest completion rate (97.4 per cent). GATE represents an opportunity for girls who have never been to school, or previously dropped out, to obtain the foundational skills that will allow them to make the transition to formal school. Not all parents or family members are convinced, however, that enrolment in GATE is the best avenue for their daughters or sisters. Sajroon’s parents, for example, were ambivalent to letting her enroll in the programme as attending school was a rare occurrence for girls in their village and because they felt their family was too poor to pay for the costs associated with schooling. Asha’s parents believed that enrolling in GATE would be a “waste of time”. In at least four documented cases, GATE facilitators played a key role in convincing parents and other family members of the need to send girls to school. ©UNICEF/Rachana Mandal A GATE class in Dhanusha, Nepal (2019) “When we can hardly feed our daughter, how can we send her to school?” GATE participants and graduates show notable – Parents of a GATE beneficiary learning outcomes. Participant learning in the GATE programme is assessed through the administration of pre- and Once enrolled, 95 per cent of GATE participants post-tests covering basic-level to Grade 3-level competencies. The tests include Nepali literacy, complete the programme. mathematics, English literacy, picture identification, and Despite the challenging context, GATE has had basic knowledge. All palikas saw an increase in the tremendous success in terms of the proportion of girls average score from pre- to post-test, a positive result who graduate from the programme: 95 per cent of the indicating that GATE girls’ learning increased GATE participants sampled completed the programme.