Nepal 

awakening of the little ones

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 finances over the coming months material for 10 schools in Kathmandu and 10 schools in Gajuri (Dhading): balls, bicycles, shelves, cushions and blankets, games...). It encourages and works with the municipalities so that they equip the other schools of their district.

  • Teacher training in schools

We train the mobilizers of our local partners to train the teachers of the 62 schools to produce educational material from free raw materials (wood, bamboo, stones, corn...), especially in the countryside. 

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

We want to create groups of parents in 20 schools in Gajuri and Dhading to sensitize them, 6 to 8 times a year, on the needs of toddlers. We are studying with the University of Paris Dauphine to conduct a scientific evaluation, by a group of researchers, on the benefits of parent education.

We also plan to create and broadcast radio spots in local languages for parents.

The association also wishes to train teachers, both in Gajuri and in Kathmandu, to identify children in great difficulty in order to be able to offer psycho-social support to families and help them solve their problems. 

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.

Other projects :

A social center for young prostitutesNepal: a social center for young prostitutes
Exploited women and their children protected with the help of Planète Enfants & DéveloppementNepal: Help for women victims of exploitation
Young Chepang girls playing in front of their new homeNepal: 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.

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