After the devastating Earthquake in Nepal in April 2015, many schools have been flattened. Help us to get the Nepali children back into education by rebuilding their schools in the remote area of Makwanpur. This area currently has one of the lowest rates of school attendance in Nepal and Nepal already has one of the worst literacy rates in the world - only 45% of Nepalis complete primary school. If the children have no school to go to, this problem will just get worse.
Unless we rebuild the schools in the Makwanpur area, local children will not be going to school. Over 200 schools in this area were destroyed by the earthquake in April 2015. Our schools survey found in some schools only 50% attend on any one day. Teacher attendance is poor and teaching standards are low, with rote learning and beating still common. We want to change this.
We strongly believe that an educated child will be provided with the skills to get a job as an adult. We also know that when children are in school they are safer from traffickers, absence from school is likely to be noticed, and education can make a child more sceptical of traffickers. To keep children safe in school we need to rebuild their classrooms. We also need to train teachers in child-friendly methods, as well as providing bursaries and midday meals.
If children find school enjoyable and attend, their aspirations increase and they are likely to go to secondary school. This is important for girls who attend only for an average of 4 years in Makwanpur, compared with 6 years for boys. We have developed a School Building Committee, formed from parents' groups who take responsibility for a school once it is rebuilt. Gita and Sita never had a uniform until we provided one. They had been stared at by the other children and always sat at the back.
