Nepal
Early Childhood Development 2015-2023
Early childhood development: a priority
Parental neglect remains common in Nepal, often due to lack of knowledge and resources. Preschool enrollment has increased in recent years, but teachers have little or no training in dealing with children under 6.
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The context
In Nepal, school is compulsory from the age of 6. According to the Ministry of Education, there are 35,000 pre-schools in the country. Housed in elementary school, they are free and welcome children from 4 to 5 years old.
But the high enrollment in these schools (88%) actually masks a very irregular attendance and low quality of early childhood development in public schools.
Attendance is particularly low in the countryside where it can take an hour to walk to school, teachers are poorly trained and underpaid, they lack equipment and teaching materials, classes are overcrowded and hygiene is lacking.
The most vulnerable families - ethnic and caste groups - do not understand the value of early childhood development and preschool. Stimulation through play, speech, and song is low until the child speaks, and only one out of two households has toys in the home.
Finally, neglect and even abuse of small children remains a major problem in Nepal where corporal punishment affected 75% of children in 2018 according to UNICEF.
Inequalities between men and women are rooted in mentalities.
The education of children from the earliest age, especially girls, is a priority.
How is your donation used?
For every 100€ collected by Planète Enfants & Développement, 85€ are dedicated to our social mission.
Our projects are evaluated by independent firms. And our accounts are audited and certified each year by KPMG.
%
of children are subjected to corporal punishment
Age of compulsory school
toys in kindergarten class
The project
In Nepal, since 2008, Planète Enfants & Développement has created four preschools in Kathmandu, in slums and then for the children of women in exploitative situations. Building on this experience, the association has strengthened the skills of its local partners Prayas Nepal and Child Nepal so that they, in turn, can train kindergarten teachers within a "Protection and Emancipation" program that has reached some 15 preschools since 2017.
Support for 62 preschools
- School equipment
Planète Enfants & Développement has financed equipment for 10 schools in Kathmandu and 10 schools in Gajuri (Dhading): balls, bicycles, shelves, cushions and blankets, games...). It encourages and works with municipalities to equip other schools in their district.
- Teacher training in schools
Between 2021 and 2023, we trained the mobilizers of our local partners to train the teachers of 63 schools to produce teaching materials from free raw materials (wood, bamboo, pebbles, corn, etc.), particularly in rural areas. At the same time, we have shared classroom management tools that have led to visible progress.
For its part, our partner Child Nepal continued to run the Facebook page dedicated to Early Childhood, publishing posts on parenting, the development of fine motor skills, nursery rhymes, inclusive education, the making of learning materials... The page had 5,600 subscribers by the end of 2023.
On the experience of BOP in Burkina Faso, we also plan to create an internet platform of educational resources for early childhood professionals.
In Katmadou, the association has been running the Maternelle de l'Espoir since 2017, a specialized kindergarten for the children of women victims of prostitutionwho are stigmatized and not well received in public facilities.
A study of childcare needs in Gajuri
We would also like to conduct a study with Prayas Nepal on the need for childcare facilities in the very remote villages of Gajuri. The idea is to develop a sustainable model of micro-structures that would accommodate an average of five children.
These micro-structures would free up mothers, grandmothers or older sisters and provide a healthy, stimulating and protective environment for children from an early age.
Support for parenthood for the awakening of young children in the villages
Parenting support is aimed at parents of pupils in the 63 nursery schools in which we have been involved. 1,134 parents took part in 2023. The aim was to pass on to these parents the keys to positive parenting, and to enlighten them on the importance of healthy nutrition.
The results were convincing and many changes could be observed between the first and last meetings.
In Dhading, 45 mobilizers were trained to continue the activity after our departure. In Gajuri, a partnership with Paris-Dauphine University enabled us to carry out a study of the impact of parenting support.
Advocacy for Early Childhood
In Nepal, municipalities now have responsibilities and budgets to develop social welfare and education. Planète Enfants & Développement fully involves the municipalities where the project is taking place: Tokha, Buddanilkanta and Gajuri. We work in close coordination with them to support them in the integration of Early Childhood projects in their annual plans, and in particular to increase the salaries of teachers, the subsidies of meals in schools, the maintenance of equipment and the social support of the most underprivileged.
PE&D's active advocacy led to the allocation of budgets entirely dedicated to early childhood, the elaboration of an integrated early childhood development plan, and the opening of a nursery school in Gajuri.
Other projects :
Nepal: a social center for young prostitutes
Nepal: Help for women victims of exploitation
Nepal: a new hostel for the education of Chepang girls
"I realized that you shouldn't force toddlers to write but let them do things at their own pace. After the training, I let them play. I found that after a few days, the children picked up the crayons on their own! I also realized that all children are different and need to be treated differently."
Ganga, kindergarten teacher
Our partners in the field
Prayas Nepal : Nepalese NGO which works particularly on the emancipation of women in very marginalized populations.
Child Nepal: NGO established in 2003 to support children's rights. Since 2017, we have been cooperating on the pre-school and parenting support component in Kathmandu.