USAID Equity and Inclusion in Education
Nepal
Plan International is improving equitable educational outcomes for marginalized youth in Nepal.
In Nepal, less than half of the children who enroll in school will complete their secondary education. Across the country, early marriage keeps many girls from finishing their education, and 38% of girls miss school when they’re on their periods. Meanwhile, students with disabilities often struggle to access education that fits their unique needs. Other students drop out because they are non-native Nepali speakers, and struggle to understand classroom content delivered in Nepali. Overall, historical and patriarchal structures have led to marginalization of certain groups in Nepal, creating wide disparities across caste, ethnicity, region and household wealth. In order to improve educational outcomes for students, USAID is funding this effort to partner with the government of Nepal and local communities to create inclusive, equitable solutions.
What are we doing?
The activity focuses on improving equitable educational outcomes for marginalized youth in grades 6-10 in the Karnali and Madhesh provinces. The project is centered around three objectives: Reducing barriers to access and retention; improving quality of education; and strengthening government of Nepal systems to improve equity and inclusion at the local level. The activity is co-led by Plan and two Nepali nonprofits, Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Center and Aasaman Nepal in Madhesh. In addition, OLE Nepal provides digital educational solutions and Inclusive Development Partners is leading on designing inclusive learning tools and assessments for the project.
Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility principles are written into the project’s design. This includes recruiting a team that reflects the diversity of the communities where we work, and intentionally supports the most marginalized children and young people in Nepal. From program start-up, Aasaman and KIRDARC will have a clear voice in decision-making, through their local staff representatives on the project’s senior management team, and will drive program strategies at the province level. The activity will also co-develop institutional strengthening plans with province and local government staff, who will meet regularly through peer support circles organized by the project. These circles will provide opportunities for them to share resources, promising practices and lessons learned, and to jointly problem-solve and develop strategies to respond to changing contexts. Finally, the activity will establish youth advisory boards at the local, provincial and national levels to provide feedback on program implementation and participate in planning through regular meetings with the senior management team.
Plan activities include, but are not limited to:
- Build girl-friendly, accessible latrines for schools with the greatest need, and help schools establish girl-led menstrual health committees to monitor and maintain latrines.
- Support children and young people who are coming back to school through accelerated learning programs.
- Help schools create systems to identify students who are struggling academically and/or are at risk of dropping out, and prompt school officials to take action and offer resources.
- Create an Equity & Inclusion Accelerator, a small grant mechanism that will provide marginalized young people with funding for creative projects that address the barriers they define as most critical.
- Raise parents’ awareness of available scholarships, eligibility criteria and steps to take to access funds.
- Integrate universal design for learning and assessment into existing teacher trainings and provide ongoing support and mentoring for teachers.
- Train and mentor local government data staff to monitor progress on equity and inclusion activities.
As a leading girls’ rights organization, Plan is building on our overall organizational capacity to integrate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility throughout our management structure and processes. Here are some examples of how we’re doing so for this project:
- Holding regular DEIA awareness and action workshops for all staff and Government of Nepal counterparts.
- Maintaining recruitment standards that ensure an inclusive team that reflects community diversity (currently 50% of Plan staff are women; 70% of KIRDARC staff are native to Karnali province; and 52% of ASN staff are from traditionally marginalized groups).
- Offering internship programs that maximize the input of youth, ethnic/caste minorities and people with disabilities in project strategies and interventions.
- Building DEIA benchmarks into staff work plans and performance reviews.
- Completing regular DEIA program audits, using tools such as Plan’s proprietary Gender Marker.
- Providing grants to local civil society organizations and community-based organizations to address barriers faced by female teachers, people with disabilities, marginalized castes and ethnicities, the LGBTQIA+ community and girls.
- Involving Youth Advisory Boards at all levels to ground the project with a youth perspective, drawing on Plan’s Youth Hub and KIRDARC and ASN’s networks.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is funding this project with up to $20 million. Plan and partners will implement the project for five years, from 2023-2028.
This information is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content is the responsibility of Plan International USA and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Project
stats and facts
- 1,927
- schools will benefit from the project.
- 22
- girl-friendly, accessible school latrines will be built.
- 5
- years of project implementation.
Your gift to the Education Fund supports education initiatives aimed at providing equal access, keeping girls in school, school sanitation and early childhood development.